The vernacular devotional literature of the English Catholic community, 1560-1640 Augustine Kelly A thesis submitted for the degree of PhD at the University of St Andrews 2001 Full metadata for this thesis is available in St Andrews Research Repository at: https://research-repository.st-andrews.ac.uk/ Identifier to use to cite or link to this thesis: https://hdl.handle.net/10023/2651 This item is protected by original copyright THE VERNACULAR DEVOTIONAL LITERATURE OF THE ENGLISH CATHOLIC COMMUNITY, 1560-1640 AUGUSTINE KELLY, O. S.B . Thesis submitted for the degreeo f Ph.D . University of St Andrews, December 2000 :: Y r'J 1 tý ý,. Abstract The Catholic community of post-Settlement England relied upon devotional literature to sustain the faith of individuals who were generally deprived of the sacraments and contact with Catholic clergy. Increasingly, these books were used not only to promote Catholic spirituality, but to encourage greater fidelity and loyalty to the Catholic church. The genre is represented by texts which vary greatly and which accommodated a wide and disparate audience with different devotional requirements and even with varying degrees of attachment to the Catholic faith. The period was one of tremendous religious literary activity on the Continent and those who were involved in the production and distribution of Catholic literature drew heavily upon the spiritual books which were issuing in such great numbers from the commercial pressesi n France and the Netherlands. Translating the devotional works of the spiritual masters of the day proved to be a tremendously effective way of providing English readers with books of orthodox devotion, while at the same time drawing the isolated community into the wider world of Catholic renewal. Providing Catholic devotional texts to a persecuted audience under tremendous pressure to conform very often drew that audience into the fray of controversy and the quarrel of religious disputation. The line between devotion and controversy was thin and often crossed, and devotional books were frequently used as a method of promoting not only Catholic spirituality, but Catholic loyalty as well. Thus, these books, like other devotional artefacts, were considered dangerous to the religious - and political - stability of England. In the contemporary situation these devotional books were clearly regarded as effective tools for maintaining Catholicism in England, both by those who produced them and by those who sought to destroy them. The study of these books can help us to appreciate that important role and the place of devotional literature in the wider context of confessional conflict. Table of contents Abstract ii Table of illustrations iv Acknowledgements v List of abbreviations vi Editorial note vii 1. Introduction 1 2. Continuity and change and the characteristics of English Catholic 31 devotional literature 3. The translation of devotion 107 4. The Polemics of prayer; devotional literature and the promotion of 156 Catholic loyalty 5. The dissemination of Catholic devotional literature 205 6. English Catholic Devotional books and English Protestant Readers 252 Conclusion 303 Appendix 309 Bibliography 321 Iv Table of illustrations following page Figure 2.1 The Pilgrim of Loreto (St Omer, 1629) 41 Figure 2.2 Meditations upon the mysteries of our faith 44 (St Omer, 1619) Figure 2.3 Instructions for the use of the beads (Louvain, 1589) 53 Figure 2.4 Godly contemplations for the unlearned (Antwerp, 1575) 68 Figure 2.5 A short catechism... illustrated with the images 78 (Augsburg, 1614) Figure 2.6 A short catechism... illustrated with the images 79 (Augsburg, 1614) Figure 4.1 Quis Dives Saluus. How a rich man may be saved 181 (St Omer, 1618) Figure 5.1 The Foot out of the Snare (London, 1624) 222 Figure 6.1 Of prayer and meditation (Paris, 1582) 276 V Acknowledgements Convention fortunately provides this opportunity to thank those who have in some manner assisted in the production of this work. As I look back over my time at St Andrews, I realise that I have accumulated many debts, and I can only repay them with my sincere gratitude. My first thanks goes to my abbot, the Right Reverend Matthew Leavy, O. S.B . and to my confreres, the monks of Saint Anselm Abbey, Manchester, New Hampshire, for the opportunity to pursue higher studies and for the tremendous fraternal support that they have given to me over the last four years. My family have been a tremendous source of encouragement for which I am deeply grateful. When I was contemplating my arrival in St Andrews I could never have anticipated working in such a supportive and stimulating environment as the Reformation Studies Institute. For the advice, friendship and encouragement that I received here, I am immensely grateful. I thank especially Dr Bruce Gordon for his early encouragement of this project and my other colleagues who have made my time here a such a profitable and enjoyable experience: Dr Fiona Campbell, Dr Philip Conner, Dr Stuart Foster, Elaine Fulton, Max Von Habsburg, and Alexander Wilkinson. I am also particularly grateful to Professor Margo Todd for reading this thesis and for her helpful advice and comments. Shortly after I arrived at the Institute I was fortunate to have met Dr Karin Maag, now Director of the H. Henry Meeter Center for Calvin Studies in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Over these years - and even over an ocean - she has been a source of the greatest encouragement. A careful reader, a thoughtful and gentle critic, but most of all a friend, I thank her for her time and patience and for her unfailing support. I would like to thank, as well, the Right Reverend Richard Yeo, O. S.B . and the monks of Downside Abbey, Stratton-on-the-Fosse, especially the librarian Dom Daniel Reese, for their Benedictine hospitality on the several occasions when I was able to take advantage of their excellent collection of Catholic devotional texts. To the staff of the special collections department of St Andrew's University library, I am also grateful for their generous assistance. Finally, I acknowledge the tremendous debt of gratitude I owe to my supervisor, Professor Andrew Pettegree. For his example of tireless industry, for his high standards as an historian and a teacher, for his insights and probing questions, but most of all for his friendship, I thank him. I only hope that I can take to the classrooms of Saint Anselm College just some of the lessons he has taught me. vi List of abbreviations APC Acts of the Privy Council (London, 1890) ARCR I The Contemporary Printed Literature of the English Counter-Reformation between 1558-1640. Volume I: Works in Languages other than English (Aldershot, 1989) ARCR II The Contemporary Printed Literature of the English Counter-Reformation between 1558-1640. Volume II: Works in English (Aldershot, 1994) CRS Publications of the Catholic Record Society CSP, Dom. Calendar of State Papers, Domestic (London, 1856) DNB Dictionary of National Biography (London, 1882) GILLOW Joseph Gillow, A Literary and Bibliographical History, or Bibliographical Dictionary of the English Catholics (London, 1885-1902) STC A Short-Title Catalogue of Books Printed in England, Scotland and Ireland and of English Books Printed Abroad before the year 1640(London, 1976,1986) RH Recusant History. A journal of research in post- Reformation Catholic history vii Editorial note Spelling has been modernised and capitalisation has been generally standardised. Chapter One: Introduction `When we pray we talk to God, when we read, God talketh to us.' Anthony Batt, O. S.B . A rule for good life. 1 With the religious changes that came with the accession of Elizabeth I, the devotional book took on a different role in the lives of English Catholics. Catholics everywhere, in England and on the Continent, had for decades relied on printed devotional books - and before them on manuscripts - to supplement their spiritual lives. But could Catholics anywhere imagine a spiritual life without the Mass or deprived of the consolation of the confessional? When the unimaginable became a reality in England in 1559, those books that once existed close to the periphery of the religious experience of many English Catholics were now poised to occupy a critical and indispensable role. A devotional life based on the word, written or spoken, may have appealed to many English men and women in the latter half of the sixteenth century who readily embraced the religious changes. Could this life have appealed, however, to the followers of a religion that very much relied on signs and symbols, on actions and gestures which themselves - along with words - were believed to transmit the mystery and grandeur of the divine into the ordinary lives of the faithful? What would become of Catholics - and indeed of the books - when books assumed a position in the devotional life of men and women that had never been imagined? ' Anthony Batt, A rule for good life. ..w ritten especially for virgins, and other religious women (Douai, 1633), STC 1923, sig. V7'. 2 This thesis examines a body of literature, printed vernacular devotional texts, which, although not entirely neglected, has received little attention when one considers this new and important position of the devotional book in the life of English Catholicism. 2 There has been and still is considerable interest in the acrimonious debates between Catholic and Protestant polemicists, in the divisions which existed within the Catholic community itself, and in the literature which was born of these debates and divisions. Compared to the dramas played out on the stage of politics and confessional strife, what must appear to be the lacklustre world of prayer and devotion in this period has received comparatively little notice, especially when one considers that these devotional texts `give us some glimpse, even on time yellowed pages, of the inner life and spirit that made these half-forgotten dramas and these too often now wholly despised abstractions such burning realities in their own day. '3 Perhaps the largest impediment to the study of devotional books has been the failure on the part of historians to notice their number. It has been argued that the controversies which occupied Catholic divines responsible for sustaining the faith in England left little time for more spiritual affairs, `that the age was primarily one of religious controversy marked by acrimonious polemics, '4 and that `the literary production of nonconformity... is on the 2 It should be remembered at the outset that the printer did not make the scrivener entirely redundant, and manuscripts still circulated which could provide devotional literature for those who sought it: `As the century progressed and the number of works multiplied, the setting-up of secret presses in England and the importation of books printed abroad in no way replaced the tradition of manuscript copying. ' Nancy Pollard Brown, `Paperchase: the dissemination of Catholic texts in Elizabethan England, ' in Peter Beal and Jeremy Griffiths (eds. ) English Manuscript Studies (Oxford, 1989), p. 120. 3 Helen White, English Devotional Literature, 1600-1640 (Madison, Wisc., 1931), pp. 11-12. `' John Roberts, A Critical Anthology of English Recusant Devotional Prose, 1558-1603 (Pittsburgh, 1966), p. 2. 3 whole controversial rather than devotional. '5 It is certainly true that polemics played a large part in the crusade to win back England from schism. Preparing texts for the religious debate did indeed occupy a considerable amount of time for those involved in the production of Catholic books. They argued extensively, producing hundreds of works, at once attacking the heretics and bolstering the faith of believers. But if the English Counter-Reformation was fundamentally a polemical movement, one would expect to find in the literary output a sustained and steady attack on the enemy -a programme of polemics. The evidence, however, reveals a different situation. Nearly half, 47 percent to be precise, of the vernacular titles produced for the English Catholic community between 1560-1640 were devotional books.6 This tells us that indeed authors were interested in sustaining the faith by reason and argument, but they were acutely aware that no faith, however well-argued, could possibly survive without the spiritual resources required to support it. This awareness, coupled with the popular demand for this literature discussed in Chapter 2, has provided an impressive source-basef rom which to investigate these books. Comparing the output of polemical and devotional literature can help us understand how the English mission used both genres, albeit in very different ways, to sustain the faith of English Catholics. It appears from such an analysis that in the early years of the mission there was a bias towards polemics and argument. In fact we do not see the first vernacular work of devotion appearing until 1568 with the publication of Laurence Vaux's A 5 Pierre Jannelle, `English devotional literature in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, ' English Studies Today, 2 (1961), p. 159. 6 Statistics are based on the entries in A. Allison's and D. M. Rogers' The Contemporary Printed Literature of the English Counter-Reformation between 1558-1640. Volume II: Works in English (Aldershot, 1994) 4 catechism, or a Christian doctrine. 7 The year 1565 alone saw the publication of 21 polemical works but not a single work of devotion. What is more, in the decade beginning in 1561 there were 52 works of disputation printed and only one of a pastoral nature.8 It is no wonder, then, that with such an early flurry of polemical activity the era has been characterised as more argumentative than pastoral. In fact, the figures probably do represent the priorities of the authors and translators, and the evidence does suggest that in the early years of the penal legislation the immediate objective of the Catholic press was to win back souls by argument. But the comparative data reveal an interesting trend that would last well into the seventeenthc entury. The polemical literature appears to be largely occasional, written in response to a particular challenge or crisis being faced by English Catholics. The first books to be published by the secret presses in England, such as the Jesuits Robert Persons' A brief discourse containing certain reasons why Catholics refuse to go to church9 and Edmund Campion's Rationes Decem, lo appeared at a time when Catholics were under intense pressure to attend services in the local parishes and when conflicting obligations confused and unsettled them. Likewise, we can attribute large number of polemical works and the paucity of devotional material in the 1560s to the appearance in 1562 of Bishop John Jewel's Apology or answer in defence of the English Church. ' l ' Laurence Vaux, A catechism, or a Christian doctrine (imprint unknown, 1568), STC 24625.5 8 See Appendix. 9 Robert Persons, S. J., A brief discourse containing certain reasons why Catholics refuse to go to church (England, secret press, 1580), STC 19394. 10E dmund Campion, S. J., Rationes Decem (England, secret press, 1581), STC 4536.5. An English edition appeared only in 1632 as Campion Englished. Or a translation of the Ten reasons (Rouen, 1632), STC 4535. " John Jewel, Apology or answer in defence of the English Church (London, 1562), STC 14590. 5 It was an enormously successful book with fifteen editions appearing by 1611 and another four of a book entitled A defence of the apology of the Church of England12 which was a response to a Catholic rebuttal, Thomas Harding's An answer to Master Jewell's challenge. 13 The upsurge in polemical literature owes a good deal to Harding's near obsession with Jewell's Apology. In addition to the title already mentioned, he himself added another seven works to the controversy. 14 Catholic apologists joined Harding with tremendous energy in responding to the Apology with works like Thomas Dorman's A proof of certain articles in religion, denied by M. Jewell15a nd John Rastell's Copy of a challenge, taken out of the confutation of Master Jewell's sermon 16 and his A treatise entitled beware of Master Jewell. ' 7 Printing statistics allow us to conclude that polemics did not entirely characterise these decades,b ut often punctuated them. Controversial works were very often produced on occasion and to respond to an urgent but limited crisis. This is not the case with devotional literature, which seems to have been regarded as an entirely different type of weapon against heresy and schism: it was always useful and always necessary.O bserving the production of this controversial literature over several decadesr eveals sudden and 12J ohn Jewel, A defence of the apology of the Church of England (London, 1567), STC 14600. 13T homas Harding, An answer to Master Jewel's challenge (Louvain, 1564), STC 12758. 14A nother edition `Augmented with certain quotations and additions, ' (Antwerp, 1565), STC 12759; A brief answer of Thomas Harding touching certain untruths (Antwerp, 1565), STC 12759.5; A confutation of a book entitled An apology of the church of England (Antwerp, 1565), STC 12762; A detection of sundry foul errors, uttered by master Jewell (Louvain, 1568), STC 12763; A rejoinder to M. Jewell's reply (Antwerp, 1566), STC 12760; A rejoinder to M. Jewell's reply against the sacrifice of the mass (Louvain, 1567), STC 12761; To master John Jewell. Thank you master Jewell (Antwerp, 1565), STC 12763.5. 15T homas Dorman, A proof of certain articles in religion, denied by M. Jewell, set forth in defence of the Catholic belief therein (Antwerp 1564), STC 7062. 16J ohn Rastell, A copy of a challenge, taken out of the confutation of Master Jewell's sermon (Antwerp, 1565), STC 20727. 6 temporary increases and decreases.T he numeric distribution of devotional texts looks quite different, plotting a steady and constant growth in every decade but the 1580s which experienced a decreaseo f only ten works from the decade before - hardly as striking as the decreaseo f controversial literature in the 1570s which produced 40 fewer polemical texts than the decade which preceded it. The statistics are enlightening and demonstrate that those who were responsible for providing Catholic books to English readers became increasingly aware that it would be through works of devotion rather than by works of controversy that they would achieve their greatest successes. Richard Hopkins, writing in the preface to his translation of Luis de Granada's Of prayer and contemplation recognised this as early as 1582. Translating devotional works would result, he said, in `more spiritual profit and would undoubtedly ensue thereby to the gaining of Christian souls in our country from schism and heresy and from all sin and iniquity, than by books that treat of controversy in religion, which (as experience hath now plainly tried) do nothing [to] well dispose the common peoples' minds to the fear, love, and service of almighty God, as books treating of devotion and how to lead a virtuous life do. ' 18 Others also began to believe that exposing the reading public to the heat of controversy might actually be more harmful to the cause than helpful. In the preface to his Book of Resolution published in the same year as Hopkins' translation, Robert Persons admitted that controversial works `in our troublesome and quarrelsome times' were more or less a necessary evil 17J ohn Rastell, A treatise entitled, Beware of M. Jewell (Antwerp, 1566), STC 20729. 18R ichard Hopkins, trans., Of prayer and meditation (Paris, 1582), STC 16907, sig. A6'. 7 and he conceded that they only serve to `fill the heads of men with a spirit of contradiction and contention, that for the most part hindereth devotion, which devotion is nothing else but a quiet and peaceable state of the soul. "9 In the 1607 edition of the same work he let his reader know that `it were more wished that less time were spent in books of controversy, than in those of piety and devotion. ' 20 The early, vigorous polemical campaign testifies as well to the quiet optimism that many Catholic authors must have maintained as they sought to persuade and cajole the English establishment back into communion with the See of Rome.2 1 As Catholic divines, however, became increasingly aware during the later years of the reign of Queen Elizabeth that the re-establishment of orthodoxy in England by political and polemical means was less than likely, they sought other weapons to employ in the battle, spiritual ones.2 2 A reliance on prayer and the promotion of devotion was anything but a retreat from the conflict, but instead an effective means by which the pious and devout could withstand the pernicious errors of the day. Indeed devotional books were perhaps the only weapon available to the simpler folk who were ill-equipped to comprehend the subtleties of religious rhetoric. They were `necessaryt o be used,' as one author argues ̀ of all private and unlearned persons' so as not to 19R obert Persons, S. J., The first book of the Christian exercise, appertaining to resolution (Rouen, 1582), STC 19353, p. 2. 20 Robert Persons, S. J., The Christian directory... Lately reviewed, corrected, and not a little altered by the author himself (St Omer, 1607), STC 19354.5, sig. ***5". 21S ee A. C. Southern, Elizabethan Recusant Prose, 1559-1582 (London, 1950), pp. 16-58 for a discussion of the literary campaign undertaken abroad by the early Catholic controversialists of the period. 22J ohn Roberts, A critical anthology of English recusant devotional prose, 1558-1603 (Pittsburgh, 1966), p. 38; T. Harmsen, John Gee's `Foot out of the Snare (1624), (Nijmegen, 1992), p. 16. 8 be `seduced in so great a variety of doctrines. '23 Writing in 1618, the Jesuit Joseph Creswell opined that the contemporary situation required books of devotion rather than learned controversial tracts, for `the time and estate of our country invite rather to write books for the overthrow of sin and to instruct men in the fear and love of almighty God, and to move them to piety and diligence in good works. '24 The modern student of the religious crisis in England after 1559 should appreciate the important role occupied by devotional literature if only for this reason: it was appreciated by the men and women who endured that crisis. `Scarcely credible, ' the Jesuit Robert Persons wrote, `are the reports of our Fathers as to the increase of Catholics in the last year, after they had read certain spiritual books and the Holy Scriptures, which have been translated into our language in the Catholic sensea nd with explanations. ' 25 And in the Memorial for the Reformation of England he was confident that instead of writing tracts against the heretics in the vernacular `books of devotion and virtuous life should enter in their place, and the memories die of other wranglings. '26 The anonymous I. R. asked his reader to consider `For what is more laudable in a Catholic (especially now in these troublesome days) than to occupy in reading such devout books, as tend to the direction of good life, to 23R ichard Broughton, A new manual of old Christian Catholic meditations and prayers, (England, secret press, 1617), STC 3900, p. 7. 24J oseph Creswell, Quis dives saluus. How a rich man may be saved (St Omer, 1618), STC 21676, sig. *5". 25L . Hicks, Letters and Memorials of Father Robert Persons S. J.: vol. I (to 1588), CRS, 39 (London, 1942), p. 179. Also cited in F. Edwards The Elizabethan Jesuits (London, 1981), p. 157. 26T . H. Clancy, `Notes on Persons' "Memorial for the Reformation of England, " (1596), ' RH 5,1959-1960, p. 29. 9 the adorning of the soul with virtues, to the procuring of the increase of devotion and for the attaining of perfection. '27 Previous examinations of English Catholic devotional literature have been limited in their treatment of the subject by focusing on individuals involved in the composition or dissemination of these texts, 28o r by confining their examination to more discrete periods of time. 29 These scholars have helpfully shed light on specific figures or periods, but more remains to be done to integrate such work into the broader picture of English Catholic life. The second category of studies on devotional works combines them with other genres, and examines them as part of a greater whole - English Catholic printing, or Early English books.3 0 All of these studies have been particularly helpful in understanding the unique contribution of the English Catholic devotional book in the period under consideration here, 1560-1640. The work of Helen White, beginning in the 1930s, and the influential book by A. C. Southern provided the foundation for others interested in the religious and 27I . R., Manual or meditation, and most necessary prayers (England, secret press, c. 1596), STC 17278.6, sig. A2'. 28P erhaps no individual has been a greater source of information on the parties involved in English Catholic authorship or printing during this period than Anthony Allison. His contribution to the field is recorded in Philip Harris, `Check-list of the writings of A. F. Allison, ' RH, 19 (1988), 359-363. See his `An early seventeenth century translator: Thomas Everard, S. J., ' RH, 2 (1956), pp. 188-215; `John Heigham of S. Omer (c. 1568- c. 1632), ' RH, 4 (1957), pp. 226-244; and `The writings of Fr. Henry Garnet, S. J., ' RH 1 (1955), pp. 7- 21; and also J. Molloy's `The devotional writings of Matthew Kellison, ' RH, 9 (1967) 159-90; and Robert Caro's `William Alabaster: rhetor, mediator, devotional poet, ' RH, 19 (1988), pp. 62-79. 29F or example A. C. Southern's Elizabethan Recusant Prose, 1559-1582 (London, 1950), Helen White's English Devotional Literature 1600-1640 (Madison, Wisc., 1931), T. H. Clancy's `Spiritual publications of the English Jesuits, 1615-1640, ' RH, 19 (1989), pp. 426- 446. 3oS ee for example H. S. Bennet, English Books and Readers 1558-1603 (Cambridge, 1965) and English Books and Readers 1603-1640 (Cambridge, 1965) and Peter Milward's Religious Controversies of the Elizabethan Age: A Survey of Printed Sources (London, 1977), Religious Controversies of the Jacobean Age: A Survey of Printed Sources (London, 1978). 10 particularly the Catholic literature of the period 31 But it is . to the bibliographers A. F. Allison and D. M. Rogers that students of the literature of the English Counter-Reformation owe the greatest debt. In 1950 the two scholar-librarians (Allison was at the British Museum, Rogers at the Bodleian) collaborated on a project whose goal was to correct the errors contained in the still enormously valuable A literary and bibliographical history, or bibliographical dictionary of the English Catholics by Joseph Gillow32 as well as assist in the difficult work of identifying Catholic texts (which were very often printed secretly or supplied with false imprints) for the new Short-Title Catalogue. The next year they published Bibliographical Studies (which would later be re-named Recusant History), and in 1956 they produced in the pages of that journal `A catalogue of Catholic books in English printed abroad or secretly printed in England. '33 The catalogue identified 930 titles, including the name of the author or translator and printer. Another three decadesp rovided the bibliographers the time to undertake an even more ambitious project. In 1989 they published The Contemporary Printed Literature of the English Counter-Reformation between 1558-1640. Volume I: Works in Languages other than English and in 1994 they issued an extended revision of their earlier work in volume two: Works in English. These works are now indispensable tools for anyone interested in the 31H elen C. White, English Devotional Literature 1600-1640 (Madison, Wisc., 1931); The Tudor Books of Private Devotion ( Madison, Wisc., 1950); and Tudor Books of Saints and Ma s (Madison, Wisc., 1963). A. C. Southern, Elizabethan Recusant Prose (London, 1950). 32J oseph Gillow, A literary and bibliographical history, or bibliographical dictionM of the English Catholics (London, 1885-1902). 33A . F. Allison and D. M. Rogers, `A catalogue of Catholic books in English printed abroad or secretly printed in England, ' Bibliographical Studies, 3 (1956). It is commonly referred to as `A & R. ' books, polemical and devotional, which were made available to English Catholics. 34 The source-baseo f this thesis consists of the approximately 450 devotional texts which were produced for English Catholic readers in the years following the Settlement and before the outbreak of the Civil War. 35 For the most part and with but a few exceptions, they have been catalogued in A Short-Title Catalogue of Books Printed in England, Scotland, & Ireland and of the English Books Printed Abroad, 1475-1640 (STC). The most accurate and complete catalogue of these books, however, having made many corrections to the STC entries, is Antony Allison's and David Rogers' The Contemporary Printed Literature of the English Counter-Reformation Between 1558-1640. University Microfilms has produced over the last half-century a significant number of these books on microfilm, greatly increasing the student's accesst o these rare books. Additionally, the facsimile editions of 75 percent of these titles produced by Scolar Press in the series English Recusant Literature under the editorship of David Rogers, have made rare editions, even unique copies, readily available to those interested in examining this body of literature. Microfilmed copies and facsimile editions are, however, no substitute for the original books. Working with the books themselves allows the student to consider the book as religious artefact and to appreciate how some of them were certainly treasured by their owners. Some are elaborately bound; others covered only in velum. In some the margins were used by the owner to 34S ee T. A. Birrell, `English Counter-Reformation book culture,' RH 22 (1994) pp. 113- 122; Philip Harris, `A. F. Allison, ' RH, 19 (1988), pp. 355-363; Antony Allison, `David Rogers (1917-1995): A memoir and tribute, ' RH, 22 (1995), pp. 459-464. 12 discourse with the author; in others the same space was used by the reader to practice his or her penmanship. One of the best private collections of this literature, and which was used extensively in the preparation of this thesis, is held in the library of Downside Abbey, Stratton-on-the-Fosse. As Chapter 2 demonstrates, these texts varied enormously, attempting as they did to satisfy the wide range of devotional tastes that existed among those English Catholics who were inclined to read devotional texts. As will become clear, a number of sub-genres are accommodated under the ample rubric of `devotional literature. ' The designation `devotional literature' is used in this thesis to describe those printed books whose principal goal was the spiritual advancement of the reader. It would be convenient to identify them as those texts which were not polemical or didactic or which eschewed controversy, preferring to addresst he soul rather than the mind, but there exist many devotional books whose purpose was to fortify the reader's Catholic identity and which incorporated apologetics - and very often controversy - in the preliminaries, marginalia, and even, as we will see in Chapter 4, in prayers and meditations themselves. The spiritual benefit which these books intended to impart upon their readers could not, it must have been widely believed, be achieved in a state of schism or heresy. It was therefore required of many of these texts not only to promote piety within their pages, but also to increase the confessional loyalty of English Catholics. Investigating the potential or intended readership of these books requires us to consider first the composition of the English Catholic 35T his figure includes other editions, issues, and variants as well as books or editions which may have existed and for which there is some external evidence -a record in an inventory, a 13 community. What was their experience of the religious changes which took place in England after the death of the Catholic Mary Tudor? How did they receive these changes, or to reflect the situation more precisely, how did they resist them? The last several decadesh ave seen various shifts in the historiography of the English Reformation; vastly different paradigms have emerged shaped mainly by the issues of source and speed: reformation from above or below; slow or fast? Much work has been done, especially in local archives, to challenge the earlier thesis of A. G. Dickens and G. R. Elton who saw in the Reformation a speedy, if not entirely immediately complete, victory for Protestantism early in the reign of Elizabeth. 36 This is the inference taken, not unfairly, for Dickens' decision to terminate his study of the English Reformation with the Settlement of 1559, though the wider corpus of his work makes clear that Dickens was fully aware of the continued devotion of many English people to the old faith. It was Dickens, after all, who 'discovered Robert Parkyn.3 7 J. J. Scarisbrick in his The Reformation and the English People described a population that was much less eager for reformation than Dickens would have us believe. If anything, people merely acquiesced to the religious changes which began in the 1530s. They neither eagerly encouraged nor warmly embraced them. 38 Scarisbrick summarises the situation in his now often-quoted assessment: ̀on reference in a letter - but of which there is no extant copy. 36A . G. Dickens, The English Reformation (London, 1964) and G. R. Elton, Reform and Reformation: England 1509-1558 (London, 1977). 37A . G. Dickens, `Robert Parkyn's narrative of the Reformation' in Reformation Studies (London, 1982), pp. 287-312. 38J . J. Scarisbrick, The Reformation and the English People (Oxford, 1984). 14 the whole, English men and women did not want the Reformation, and most of them were slow to accept it when it came.' 39 Rather than the sweeping successp roposed by Dickens and Elton, the Reformation in England has been characterised more recently by another generation of scholars as a halting, awkward and tentative process which only very gradually achieved a position of stability. As Patrick Collinson has remarked, `It is only with the 1570s that the historically minded insomniac goes to sleep counting Catholics rather than Protestants, since only then did they begin to find themselves in a minority situation. '40 In other words, following a trend evident in continental scholarship a whole generation before, historians of the English Reformation agree that the real work of embedding Protestantism in England was only beginning in 1559. Chief among this company of revisionists are Christopher Haigh and Eamon Duffy who have described a very different situation from those who have suggested that the Reformation was inevitable, or the consummation of an organic development, the natural and obvious outcome of a tired and unpopular medieval English Catholicism. Haigh, in the collection of articles he edited in The English Reformation Revised and later in his English Reformations rightly challenged the idea of a single, decisive religious movement in England which could be called a `reformation. ' 41 Rather he has concluded that there existed several ̀ reformations, ' political and religious, which competed for the loyalties of English men and women. Rejecting the 39I bid, p. 1. 40 Patrick Collinson, The Birthpangs of Protestant England: Religious and Cultural Change in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries (New York, 1988), p. ix. " Christopher Haigh, The English Reformation Revised (Cambridge, 1987) and English Reformations: Religion, Politics, and Society under the Tudors (Oxford, 1993). 15 inevitability of the Reformation, Eamon Duffy in his The Stripping of the Altars provides ample evidence for the vitality of piety and spirituality on the eve of the Reformation in England. Rather than being a welcome release from the corruptions and superstitions that had burdened the English church, he concludes that the Reformation `was a violent disruption, not the natural fulfilment, of most of what was vigorous in late medieval piety and religious practice. '42 Aligned to the debate regarding the speed and strength of the Reformation is a second debate which concerns the state and condition of the Catholic community from the earliest days following the religious legislation of 155 9.43 In 1941 A. G Dickens published his article `The first stages of Romanist recusancy in Yorkshire, 1560-1590' in which he now famously distinguishes between `survivalism' and `seminarism,' the former being the conservative attachment of English Catholics to old customs and traditions, an attachment which could not long endure the burdens of persecution, and the latter being the vibrant and militant Catholicism imported with the arrival of missionary priests trained in the seminaries abroad and which won for the church its recusants and even its martyrs. What successC atholics were able to achieve following the Settlement was due almost entirely, he argues, to the efforts of these seminary priests, and later the Jesuits: `Between survivalism 42 Eamon Duffy, The Stripping of the Altars (New Haven, 1992), p. 4. 43 Several overviews on the historiography of these debates have recently appeared. See Michael Mullett, Catholics in Britain and Ireland, 1558-1829 (New York, 1998), pp. 1-32; John Aberth and Gregory Randolph, `England's Counter-Reformation: The changing historiography of English religious history, ' The Downside Review, 107 (1999), pp. 273-292; Andrew Muldoon, `Recusants, church-papists, and "comfortable" missionaries: Assessing the post-Reformation English Catholic Community, ' The Catholic Historical Review, 86 (2000) pp. 242-257; Michael Questier, `What happened to English Catholicism after the Reformation?, ' History, 85 (2000), pp. 28-47. 16 and seminarism little or no connection existed; arduous proselytism, not the weight of tradition, accounted for the romanist revival. 44 This is a position largely shared by J. C. H. Aveling and John Bossy, although the former did concede some degree of continuity, but still attributes the rise in recusancy to the arrival of the missionary priests.4 5 John Bossy argued in The English Catholic Community that the brand of Catholicism present in England after 1570 had little to do with what came before the Reformation, and that only a `fragmentary continuity' linked Marian Catholicism with post-Reformation, missionary Catholicism. 46 The missionary priests were responsible for creating a separated Catholic community which could trace its origins to their efforts rather to than to any attachment to the medieval English church and its practices. The English Catholic community, according to Bossy, was a wholly created one, not a continuous one.4 7 This is a theory that has long endured in the historiography of post- Reformation English Catholic community, and one which finds its origins in the contemporary account of events provided by Father Robert Persons, S. J. According to this account, the Marian regime's attempt to restore Catholicism was doomed from the start, relying as it did on a clergy that was poorly trained and not highly motivated towards reform. This is how Haigh characterises Father Persons' appraisal of the situation: `The spineless, moribund, hierarchical and monopolistic church had succumbed to a fast and easy as A. G. Dickens, `The first stages of Romanist Recusancy in Yorkshire, 1560-1590, The Yorkshire Archaeological Journal, 35 (1941), p. 181. as J C. H. Aveling, The Handle and the Axe: The Catholics Recusants in England from the Reformation to Emancipation (London, 1976), pp. 52,60-61,73. 46J ohn Bossy, The English Catholic Community, 1570-1850 (Oxford, 1976), p. 107. 17 Reformation, and had dragged the Catholic faith down with it. But to the rescue, as the Protestant dragon was about to devour the Catholic damsel, came the Jesuits priests. ' This is what Haigh labels Persons' `fairy story. '48 Such an interpretation has been warmly received by generations of historians of the English Reformation, who - oddly enough - like Father Persons, saw in the conservative, Marian church, a community ripe for some type of reformation. What the church in England needed, Persons argued, was not a nostalgic restoration, but an energetic reformation, a new spirit and a new beginning in which `we are not like to find.. .e ither backward Bishops or dissolute priests, or licentious religious men or women to oppose themselves against so holy a deignment as this our reformation is. '49 This reformation could only be accomplished by the new generation of clerics issuing from the English seminaries recently established on the continent. The Church under Mary Tudor, Persons believed, had been too weak, too timid and too tired to resist the onslaught of heresy. And Marian clergy lacked any real zeal for reform, preferring to maintain a religiously tepid status quo. Not so these new recruits: `All is now zeal and integrity in our new clergy. '50 Writing from Paris to Father Agazzari, S. J., the Rector of the English College in Rome, Father Persons testifies to the success,n ot of an enduring, stubborn Catholicism, but to the efforts of this new breed of priests, men like himself: `I have heard that 47A ndrew Muldoon, `Recusants, church-papists, and "comfortable" missionaries: assessing the post-Reformation English Catholic community, ' The Catholic Historical Review, 86 (2000), p. 244. 48C . Haigh, `From monopoly to minority: Catholicism in early modern England, ' Transactions of the Royal Historical Society, 31 (1981), pp. 129,147. 49T . H. Clancy, S. J., `Notes on Persons' "Memorial for the Reformation in England" (1596), ' RH, 5 (1959), p. 19. 18 prudent men firmly maintain the opinion that Catholics in England are now twice as many as they were one year ago. How probable this is may be gauged from this single incident: two priests were sent here from England recently on business, and one of them declared to us that he knew of four priests, who in one single county (Hampshire by name) since last Easter had brought back to the bosom of the church upwards of four hundred persons.' 51 Father Persons' interpretation is hardly surprising coming as it does from one of the leaders of the new missionary movement. Highlighting the achievements of men like himself rather than the tenacity of Marian Catholicism was a natural reaction, especially when he was appealing for more funds or personnel. But was it an accurate assessmento f English Catholicism? Did the successo f the mission owe nothing to what came before it? If success is measured in recusancy, as it normally was, were the Marian priests deserving of no accolades whatsoever? The revisionists have something to say on the matter. According to Haigh there was already established in England, before the Seminary priests arrived and due to the efforts of the Marian clergy, a separatedC atholic community which became the foundation on which the seminarists and later the Jesuits would build. 52 To be sure, the seminarists and Jesuits were good at what they did, establishing a small, seigneurally-based form of English Catholicism, and Father Persons really cannot be blamed for boasting of successi f this type of Catholicism was 50Ibid, p. 19. 51L . Hicks, Letters and Memorials of Father Robert Persons, S. J.: vol. I (to 1588), CRS, 39 (London, 1942) p. 179. 52C . Haigh, Reformation and Resistancei n Tudor Lancashire( Cambridge, 1975), pp. 248-249 and `The continuity of Catholicism in the English Reformation,' in The English Reformation Revised, C. Haigh, ed., (Cambridge, 1992), p. 187. 19 indeed the goal of the new priests.5 3 But they cannot be credited for creating ex nihilo something that they did not: `The argument that recusancy was created by seminary priests credits them with an instant impact that it is difficult to accept. If Catholics had conformed until the arrival of the missionaries, if conservatism was almost dead by the mid 1570s, the successes of a handful of men in three or four years defies imagination. ' 54 Bossy's vision of the post-Reformation English Catholic community, a community which consisted of new priests and the recusants they created, is too narrow, neglecting as it does the existence of a separatedc ommunity before 1574 as well as ignoring that amorphous group of reluctant conformists known as ̀ church-papists.' 55 Who, then, exactly were the `English Catholics' who appear so frequently in the pages of this thesis? Whom did an author address when he dedicated a work to `the devout Catholic laity of England' 56 or `his dear countrymen, the persecuted and afflicted Catholics of England'57 or `to the Catholic and Christian reader. Most dear countrymen whose desires are to serve God in holiness of life'? 58 If he addressedo nly the recusants, those men and women who steadfastly refused to attend the weekly service in the parish church and who were willing to suffer the consequencesf or their 53C . Haigh, `From monopoly to minority, ' p. 130. saC . Haigh, Reformation and Resistance in Tudor Lancashire (Cambridge, 1975), p. 267. See also C. Haigh, `The Church of England, the Catholics and the people, ' in Peter Marshall (ed. ), The Impact of the English Reformation, 1500-1640, (London, 1977), pp. 240-243. ss Bossy defines membership in the `Catholic Community' as ̀ habitual, though in view of physical difficulties not necessarily very frequent, resort to the services of a priest and, from at least the later half of the seventeenth century, a degree of continuous congregational participation. ' The English Catholic Community, p. 184. 56S abine Chambers,T he garden of our B. Lady or a devout manner how to serve her in her rosary (St Omer, 1619), STC 4955, sig. *3r. 57J ohn Heigham, Certain very pious and godly considerations proper to be exercised whilst the incruential [sic] sacrifice of the Mass is celebrated (Douai, 1611), STC 14568.7, sig. B9`. 58G eorge Flinton, A manual of prayers newly gathered out of many and divers famous authors as well ancient as of time present (Rouen, 1583), sig. al`. 20 constancy, he would have been speaking to a rather limited audience.5 9 Persecuted and afflicted Catholics certainly included those whose affliction extended not only to their purse or liberty, but to their conscience, those of a rather less heroic nature who, though still maintaining allegiance to the Catholic church in their hearts, nonetheless took the more prudent course of compliance and joined their neighbours - convinced Protestants or those like themselves - in the local church each week. These were the `church-papists,' a term used by Catholics to deride the disloyal behaviour of the religiously fickle, and by Protestants to condemn the grudging obedience of the politically disloyal. 60 Indeed, the existence of this group, well-acknowledged in the contemporary literature, forces us to recognise that the term `Catholic' must cover a much broader range of religious observance and practice than has traditionally been the case. Far from being only the `upper class sect' described by John Bossy, English Catholics - as the term is used here - were rich and poor, 61m en and women, 62 59R ecusant numbers are difficult to assessa nd measuring the rise of recusancy is just as taxing. Any statistical information exists in the form of official documents, recusant rolls and prison lists. And so the accuracy of our knowledge in this area largely depends upon the efforts of particular magistrates or other officials acting in particular locales and at particular times. See Christopher Haigh, `The continuity of Catholicism in the English Reformation, ' in The English Reformation Revised, (Cambridge, 1987), p. 189. 60T he most comprehensive treatment of the subject is Alexandra Walsham's Church Papists: Catholicism, conformity, and confessional polemic in early modem England, (Woodbridge, 1999). Judith Maltby, in her Prayer Book and people in Elizabethan and Early Stuart England. (Cambridge, 1998) wonders, however, whether church papistry `was a point occupied on the religious spectrum by actual historical persons or whether church papists existed chiefly in the anxious minds of propagandists and polemicists. ' (p. 13). The Jesuits may have liked to imagine that those who conformed did so rather out of fear and no real zeal for the new religion. Protestant divines may have been anxious, too, to describe a population which was lukewarm in its attachment to the Protestant faith in a bid for swifter and more complete reform. 61J ohn Bossy, The English Catholic Community, p. 60. For a discussion of the almost invisible Catholic poor of this period and the reasons for their obscurity, see John A. Hilton, The Catholic poor: paupers and vagabonds 1580-1780, ' in Catholics of Parish and Town (London, 1999) Marie B. Rowlands, ed., pp. 116 ff. For a detailed analysis of the economic status of English Catholicism in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, see William Trimble, The Catholic Laity in Elizabethan England (Cambridge, Mass., 1964), pp. 177-252. 21 educated and illiterate; they were recusants and church-papists. In short, if there was such a thing as a `Catholic Community' it could be recognised as much by its diversity as by its unity. Christopher Haigh, one of the earlier advocates for a more comprehensive definition, considers the English Catholicism of this era `a curious and confused spectrum of attitudes and behaviour'63 and Alexandra Walsham refers to a `religious community with fluid and shifting boundries. '64 Indeed, a degree of caution must be exercised when invoking these too- facile labels of `recusants' and `church-papists' to describe the community of English Catholics. 65 The `recusant' -a word so frequently accompanied by `staunch'- came from somewhere, from the conservatives of the Marian regime or, indeed later from that elusive group of men and women whose eventual refusal to attend services in the established church was the outcome of a gradual process, perhaps reached after many years of conformity and only after exposure to the priests who were making their way back into England after 1574 (and the Jesuits after 1580), as well as to the texts, even these devotional books, which were encouraging them to return to the church of their ancestors. To be sure, there were those whose recusancy was early, complete, and `staunch.' They had the local support and financial security 62F or discussions on the disproportionate number of women cited for recusancy see John Bossy, The English Catholic Community and Marie B. Rowlands, `Recusant women, 1560- 1640, ' in Mary Prior, ed. Women in English Society (London, 1985), pp. 153 ff. See also Kent Emery, `The story of recusant women exiled on the continent, ' Analecta Cartusiana, vol. 130, pp. 118-134. 63C hristopher Haigh, English Reformations, p. 256. 64A lexandra Walsham, `Domme preachers? ' Post-Reformation English Catholicism and the culture of print, ' Past and Present, 168 (2000), p. 98. 65T he same caution should be employed when using the term `Protestant,' for increasingly in the period under investigation the word can be applied only with diminishing precision. See A. Milton, Catholic and Reformed (Cambridge, 1995), pp. 7-9. 22 which made non-attendance, if not an easy choice, at least one which could be carried out without too much difficulty. But recusancy was not always complete nor entirely resolute.6 6W illiam Shipton and his wife Jane, Custancia Smith, William Whitehouse, John Hunter, George Appleby, William Corbit, and Agnes Jackson represent that class of erstwhile recusants who succumbed to the enormous pressure to conform: when questioned about their non-attendance, they responded that `it was true but they now go to church & have done a good space of time. ' 67 There were intermittent recusants like John Devowe who `goes only four or five times a year, ' and Robert Moresby who attended no more regularly. 68 Some absented themselves only when they could afford to pay the hefty fine - £20 per month after 1581 - and some allowed their wives to stay at home, while the husband himself fulfilled his religious and social obligations. 69 In December of 1574 Janet Geldard, Frances Hall and Isabel Porter were all cited for non-attendance. Where were their husbands Percival, George, and Peter on this occasion? Had they permitted their wives the luxury of a clear conscience which they could not afford for themselves?7 0 66T he seigniorial Catholicism described by John Bossy did not necessarily involve complete recusancy: `As a complex of social practices rather than a religion of internal conviction, it offered no barrier to the degree of attendance at the parish church required to preserve the integrity of the household; a sufficient dissociation could be expressed by not communicating, by keeping one's hat on or talking during the sermon. ' `The Character of Elizabethan Catholicism, ' Past and Present, 21 (1962), p. 41. 67J . C. H. Aveling, `The court records of York recusancy, ' in Catholic Recusancy in York, (London, 1970), p. 166. See also Alexandra Walsham, Church Papists (Woodbridge, 1999), p. 77 68A veling, `The court records of York recusancy, ' in Catholic Recusancy in York, (London, 1970), p. 166. 69 'Every person above sixteen which shall not repair to some Church, Chapel or usual place for Common Prayer shall forfeit to the Queen for every month £20. ' 23 Eliz. cap. 1. Cited in T. F. Knox, The First and Second Diaries of the English College, Douay (London, 1878), p. Ixviii. 70J . C. H. Aveling, The court records of York recusancy, ' in Catholic recusancy in York, 1558-1791 (London, 1970), p. 176. 23 Recusants were those who, by definition, refused to attend services in the established church. The term refers only to what the individual did not do. It tells us nothing about what the person did, what his her religious practice was like, if he or she had access - regular or only occasional - to a priest, or if he or she attended Mass when it was available. The result of counting recusants, something which the government was increasingly keen to do, simply informs us about empty places in local pews. The statistics themselves do not allow us to make any conclusions regarding the sacramental and devotional life of those who remained at home when they should have been in church. The new role of the devotional book can only be really appreciated if we have some understanding of the new religious and spiritual situation in which Catholics found themselves after the Settlement in 1559. Statute prohibited the Mass in England but it never removed it entirely. In some parts of England, especially the North, proclamation and regulation did very little to loosen the strong conservative attachment to the old religion that existed there. `There were certainly parts of the country, ' John Bossy concludes, `where the missionary inherited something like a ready-made congregation from the past, and could even, from among the remote chapels which had sometimes been left high and dry by the Reformation, find a consecrated building to house it. ' 71 And - it must not be forgotten - there were still priests, the `old priests' and later the missionaries, to minister in these places. But to what extent did Catholics have accesst o them, and to what extent were their spiritual lives disrupted by new situation? As with counting recusants, one cannot be too 24 cautious when drawing conclusions about the spiritual and sacramental lives of English Catholics from the very unreliable exercise of counting priests. John Bossy has now famously described the seigniorial Catholicism that developed after the arrival of the seminarists and the Jesuits. The resident priest, the domestic chaplain, became by the end of the seventeenth century a familiar, though not public, figure in the Catholic gentry household, providing Mass very often on a daily basis for the family and its dependants. But these Masses were very much private affairs, to which outsiders were permitted only by the invitation of the head of the house.7 2 Thus, the physical proximity of a priest was in no way a measure of plebeian accesst o the Mass. The cleric may have been close by, but at the same time available to only a few chosen Catholics. The institutionalisation of what was at first really a practical measure - staying with the gentry for the protection such an arrangement provided - meant that more of the always-slim clerical resources were spent on a relatively few individuals. While Lady Monatague enjoyed Mass three times a day - provided by her three resident chaplains 73t - he Catholic population of Malpas in Cheshire heard Mass only three times in two years.7 4 With a priest hiding in the attic, it would have been relatively easy for the gentry family to slip out of conformity and into recusancy. But what choice did the non-gentry Catholic have? Without the ready-at-hand and constant spiritual support and encouragement that the Catholic gentry enjoyed from the domestic chaplain, it is unlikely that many of the lower class could have easily moved into recusancy. For them, a reluctant, partial conformity might be the best that 71J ohn Bossy, The English Catholic Community, p. 125. 72J ohn Bossy, The English Catholic Community, p. 127. 25 circumstances would permit. For them, 'Church-papistry.. .w as the most logical and attainable goal of rural dwellers not incorporated into recusant manors, of artisans in York and Ripon, and of east Londoners. ' 75 When we consider accesst o priests and sacraments, we must consider in addition to the class-basedi solation of the clergy, their geographic distribution as well. Arriving from European ports, priests tended to stay in the South where pastoral work was obviously made more difficult by the government. In 1580 fifty percent of the priests in England were ministering in the South to twenty percent of the recusant population, while only twenty percent of the priests were working with forty percent of the country's detected recusants in the North, a figure which, considering the ineffective and unenthusiastic system of detection, must certainly have been higher. 76T he Jesuits were particularly bad at properly distributing their personnel: in 1635 the area of the country which held the smallest amount of know recusants was home to forty-two percent of the Jesuits working in England. 77 ̀While priests in the South-East had little to do and were getting in each other's way, it was claimed in the 1630s, elsewhere clerical shortages left the laity to die without the sacraments.'7 8 We know something about the number of Jesuits working in England, but what can we say about the number of individuals who had regular or even infrequent accesst o them, when we acknowledge that they, like their secular 73I bid, p. 130. 74C . Haigh, `From monopoly to minority, 'p. 133. 75A ndrew Muldoon, `Recusants,c hurch-papists,a nd ̀ comfortable' missionaries: assessingt he post-Reformation English Catholic community, ' Catholic Historical Review, 86 (2000), p. 252. 76C . Haigh, `From monopoly to minority, ' p. 133. 77I bid, p. 134. 26 counterparts, often resided with the gentry as personal chaplains and located themselves in their areas of the country with the fewest Catholics? 79 The Mass and the priesthood remained at the centre of the religious life of English Catholics even when accesst o them was occasional. Devotional books provided no substitute for them. They could, however, provide an evocation of rites which were less routinely available. The devotional texts studied in this work are a complex and varied corpus of literature and they served a complex and varied community. The English Catholics addressedi n the dedicatory epistles of these devotional books and referred to in the pages of this thesis, were the men and women who maintained a spiritual allegiance to the Church of Rome, even if that allegiance was often compromised by attendance at the parish church. But authors and translators, publishers and printers often anticipated and frequently intended that their works would be read even by non-Catholics. Of course in the arena of confessional dispute, this was to be entirely expected as apologists were required to read the opponent's arguments if they were to be denied.8 0 But, as we will see in Chapter 6, Catholic devotional works often found their way into Protestant hands as well. Transforming Catholic devotional books into texts suitable for an audience who would have little truck with the superstitions of the papists was a convenient way to provide spiritual reading for English Protestants. It was not necessarily the case, as Catholic contemporaries sneered, that Protestants were not producing their own spiritual books: their Thomas Becon could rival the most prolific Catholic devotional author, providing a 78I bid. 27 Protestant readership with dozens of editions of devotional titles. 8' Edward Dering, too, supplied his co-religionists with sound, home-grown Protestant devotions which promoted a type of domestic religious life with titles such as A brief & necessary instruction, very needful to be known of all householders82a nd Godly private prayers for householders to meditate upon, and to say in their families. 83B ut there did exist a body of Catholic literature which, with slight modifications or even major deletions, could be accommodated to suit a Protestant audience. Catholics claimed as their own the writings of the Spanish Dominican Luis de Granada and delighted in the English translations that appeared from Catholic presses. But Protestants editors were not to be put off by Catholic claims; they adopted Granada for themselves and adapted his texts for an audience no less interested than their papist neighbours in the important matters treated in Of prayer and meditation. 84 When Protestants appropriated Granada, it was a practical measure. When Catholics turned to his books and the works of other Spanish and Italian spiritual authors it was more than a matter of practicality. Translating the works of Catholic devotions ensured that the isolated community in England would share in the vibrant renewal of the Counter- 79A veling, The Handle and the Axe, pp. 68,77; Bossy, English Catholic Community, pp. 216- 218. 80M ilton, Catholic and Reformed, p. 235. 81A mong them include The flower of Godly prayers (London, 1561), STC 1720.5; The governance of virtue, teaching a Christian man how he ought daily to lead his life. Also many godly prayers (Southwark, 1538), STC 1724.5 which appeared in ten editions between 1538- 1586; The pomander of prayer (London, 1558), STC 1744 which appeared in nine issues until 1600; and his most popular work The sick man's salve (London). The first edition, which appeared in 1560, was to be followed by another 29 until 1632. STC 1756.5-1773. 82E dward Dering, A brief & necessaryi nstruction, very needful to be known of all householders( London, 1572), STC 6679. 83E dward Dering, Godly private prayers for householderst o meditate upon, and to say in their families (London, 1574), STC 6684.7 28 Reformation that was taking place on the continent. The impact of these translations, discussed in Chapter 3, was tremendous and remains one of the most intriguing elements in the production of devotional texts for English Catholic readers. Producing devotional texts in a period of religious persecution was never going to be an easy task. Getting these texts into the hands of Catholics was even more difficult. The government's harsh attitude towards Catholic literature - polemical and devotional - was predictable and reasonable, reasonable for a regime whose survival depended on the absolute loyalty of the people, a loyalty demonstrated in part, at least, by an unfailing attachment to the established religion. 85T he Catholic devotional books which were produced to enliven the faith of a religious minority could never be endured by a regime that could not tolerate even the possibility - and certainly not the enlivening - of a religious minority. Although it is tempting to speak of a `printing programme' or an industry responsible for the production of Catholic devotional literature for an English-reading audience, in fact no such organisation existed. Closer to the reality of the situation is the idea of a printing `mission' - an activity undertaken over a period of several decadesa nd by a variety of individuals with the common understanding that devotional books were to be an essential part of the campaign to win back souls - if not a nation - to the Catholic Church. The early printing efforts were dominated by the `Louvainists, ' men 84T he Catholic edition was translated by Richard Hopkins (Paris, 1582) STC 16907. The first bowdlerised edition appeared in 1592. (STC 16909) 85S ee Leona Rostenburg The Minority Press& the English Crown: A Stud impression, 1558-1625 (Nieuwkoop, 1971) pp. 31-29 and Cyndia Clegg, PressC ensorship in Elizabethan England (Cambridge, 1997), p. 79. 29 like Thomas Harding, Nicholas Sander, Thomas Stapleton and William Allen whose personalities and priorities determined that they would use the press in a campaign of controversy and polemics. The attitude of the government, discussed in Chapter 5, required that these books of devotion be produced and transported under conditions of the greatest secrecy. Books produced from the established printing houses of Paris, Antwerp and Rouen often carried false imprints to distract a government whose knowledge and influence extended across the channel. Books were shipped from Antwerp, Dunkirk, Dieppe, Rouen and Calais, smuggled with rosary beads, agnus deis, images and other paraphernalia used to support the devotions of English Catholics. The existence of secret pressesi n England, makeshift operations which had to be dismantled at a moment's notice, demonstrated how daring and desperate men like William Carter and James Duckett were to provide devotional books for their countrymen and countrywomen. The men who were involved in the production and distribution of these texts, the authors, translators, publishers and printers, came from a variety of backgrounds. They were priests - regular and secular - and laymen, academics and artisans, exiles and those who remained in England writing or printing or handing on books to whoever was willing to take the risk of possessing them. They were, in one sense, all involved in a `mission' whose objective was the maintenance and promotion of the specific and time-tested devotions which had always been part of the fabric of Catholic life. Priests and the sacramentst hat they conferred - the Mass especially - would always be at the centre of that life, but until that day when priests and the Mass were, if not welcomed in England at 30 least tolerated there, books would be relied upon to instruct men and women and to guide them, in those troublesome times, in devotion and in prayer. Chapter Two: Continuity and change and the characteristics of English Catholic devotional literature Among the exercises of a spiritual life, there is none more difficult, nor more necessary, than the exercise of prayer, & meditation. ' John Heigham, An instruction how to pray and meditate well. ' As difficult as the exercise of private prayer may have been, private devotions were never more necessary for English Catholics than after 1559. What else could the Catholic rely on to nourish his or her faith but private prayer and solitary meditation? Even devotions carried out with family, servants, or like- minded neighbours were private devotions, for they were conducted under the most cautious of circumstances. Where could the Catholic turn for advice and consolation if not to the book? With the Catholic sermon but a distant echo, what would now teach Catholics about the faith if not the orthodox texts issuing from Catholic presses?I f one were fortunate enough - and daring enough - one could occasionally participate in the clandestine Masses held in a recusant household. But no one could rely on these intermittent and unpredictable experiences for sustained spiritual support: to base one's religious life on such infrequent and dangerous occasions was neither sensible nor safe. So books were relied on, not to replace the sacraments - nothing ever could, and no author would be so bold as to suggest this - but to enrich the spiritual lives of those who were now largely deprived of the traditional sources of religious support. This chapter will examine these books in several ways: first, by identifying some of the most prominent, and frequent, devotional motifs ' John Heigham, An instruction how to pray and meditate well (St Omer, 1622), STC 1341, sig. A5'. 32 contained in them; second, by recognising the variety of devotional books required to satisfy a widely diverse readership; and third, by identifying the major classifications, the sub-genres of the devotional literature which were made available to English Catholics. By examining these books, we can establish at least two things: first, what it was that those responsible for the production of devotional books believed to be beneficial or even necessaryf or the maintenance of the old faith in England, and second, what those who acquired the books were actually interested in reading. An examination of this literature has made one thing abundantly clear: the production of Catholic devotional books was very much determined by the demands of the readership, albeit a hidden and elusive one. The men at Douai or St Omer could not assumet hat the men and women in London or the countryside would eagerly acquire whatever spiritual book the press chose to produce. Instead, the production of devotional books was decided by the requirements of the men and women who procured them, by the tastes and preferences of the potential readers. For Catholic printers like William Carter, James Duckett and the Jesuit Henry Garnet who operated secret pressesi n London, the production of Catholic devotional books was not a commercial enterprise (although the same cannot be said for the continental pressesf rom which so many of these books issued). Their motive was not profit, but the spiritual good that could be gained by reading the books they produced. This did not, however, mean that they could ignore the interests of the audience. Producing books, especially in secret, was an expensive and dangerous enterprise, and one could afford to 33 make very few mistakes or to miscalculate the readers' interests, if one wanted to print another book. If we can assume that book production was a response to the interests of the readership, then we can be certain at least of this: the readers of Catholic devotional books were interested in a wide assortment of pious literature. They looked for books to educate them in their faith, and these were produced in great numbers. They wanted books to edify them, and there was no shortage of these. And they even wanted some devotional books to entertain them, to describe exotic places and miraculous events, to draw their minds away from their humdrum existences or the hardships they endured for their faith. Authors, printers and publishers realised that a dry treatise on mental prayer might not provide the same delight for some readers as The Admirable life of S. Francis Xavier which, according to its translator `was so various is this history as it cannot be but delightful and pleasant by reason of so many countries briefly and lively described; so many different dispositions and strange manners; so many rites and ceremonies of false religions with sundry superstitions and idolatrous priests. '2 When John Heigham translated The spiritual pilgrimage of Hierusalem, he provided his readers with abundant material for meditation: `Let us behold therefore what care & pains our loving lord hath taken of our salvation; let us learn to travail courageously & like devout & holy pilgrims to follow his steps, who hath left us an example of his 2 Thomas Fitzherbert, trans., The admirable life of S. Francis Xavier (St Omer, 1632), STC 24140, sig. A3v-A41. 34 blessed life and passion, and ruminate in our hearts every day apart, some several point thereof. 0 The book was itself what the author calls a `spiritual voyage...d ivided into three-hundred sixty-five days' journeys, which is for every day in the year, one meditation: to the end thou mayest not be silent one hour ever in any day. '4 There were a number of books that could provide the reader with as many meditations. Few, however, provided their readers with an opportunity to see far-off and exciting places with the eye of the imagination, or allowed them to follow such an exhilarating spiritual itinerary. The reader of this particular book is transformed into a `spiritual pilgrim' and with the assistance of this book he or she is still able to participate in a devotion that had been so much a part of religious life in England prior to the Reformation. The reader departs `from London, or the like' and by the twenty-fourth day he or she has arrived in northern Italy: `Passing by Trent you may visit the body of S. Symeon which is there entire. '5 `In Venice you may see the body of S. Mark, there is the gospel which he wrote with his own hand.' In Venice too the pilgrim was invited to visit the bodies of the virgin-martyr St Lucy and the evangelist St Luke. 6 ̀ Then visit S. Helen's body, ' the reader is encouraged, `where on her breast is a+ made of the wood of our Lord's cross. Also, there is a finger of Constantine her son, and a piece of St Mary Magdalene's breast, and a sanctuary of Cypress fairly graven and painted. Get thee a boatman to 3 John Heigham, trans., The spiritual pilgrimage of Hierusalem, containing three hundred sixty five days journey, wherein the devout person may meditate on his redemption... As also sundry devout prayers and meditations very helpful to the pilgrims (Douai, 1604-1605), STC 12574, sig. B3"-q-4`. ' Ibid, sig. A5'-A6`. 5 Ibid, sig. A9`. 6 Ibid, sig. A 101. 35 conduct to these holy places, Saint Andrew or some other according to thy devotions. '7 By the fortieth day, the pilgrim is at last ready to set sail for the Holy Land: `Now go to thy Holy angel and desire him to help thee to a good and skilful pilot, to carry thee to the holy Land. The lord of this ship must be St Peter, to whom commend thyself. ' 8 The large number of devotional books that were made available after 1568 makes categorisation a difficult task. As we will see, many of these books, like The spiritual pilgrimage, defy classification and might belong to a number of categories, but to no single one to the exclusion of others. It is difficult to find the appropriate category.f or some devotional literature, such as The pattern of all pious prayer, and the epitome of all Christian Catholic belief. Being a patheticall and paraphrastical meter upon the Pater Noster, Ave Maria, and Credo in Deum, &c. together with a divine ditty made upon St Patrick's day last past in honour of the Christian Cross. With wholesome preparatives for death and judgement. Also a short panigyre on Mary-Land in America. 9 Books like this offer the reader an uncommon, even unique, avenue of devotion. ' Ibid, sig. Allr. 8 Ibid, sig. A 11'". 9 Anon., The pattern of all pious prayer, and the epitome of all Christian Catholic belief. Being a patheticall and paraphrastical meter upon the Pater Noster, Ave Maria, and Credo in Deum, &c. together with a divine ditty made upon St Patrick's day last past in honour of the Christian Cross. With wholesome preparatives for death and judgement. Also a short panigyre on Mary-Land in America (Douai, 1636), STC 17746. The Ave Maria is rendered in this way: Who ever hopes for help from our Messiah Must to his mother say - Ave Maria To thy son's court being sent for by Subpoena We use thy prayer for thou art Gratia Plena Those prayers none can miss that daily seek 'em How can we fail knowing that Dominus tecum (sig. avi"-avii`). 36 Still, by examining these books we can come to some important conclusions about the spiritual needs and religious aspirations of English Catholics: they needed continuity and tradition, a senseo f religious stability at a time when nothing about religion in England seemed safe or stable. At the same time they desired novelty and variety in their devotional books. A community that had already been deprived of so much demanded some degree of choice in its devotional material. Continuity and choice, tradition and variety, these are the most fundamental characteristics of the devotional literature of post-Settlement English Catholicism. On the one hand authors and translators were interested in propagating the vibrant Catholicism of the Counter-Reformation as it was being expressed in Continental devotional literature. It was naturally to the Passion, the Virgin Mary, the sacraments,t he saints and even to pilgrimages that they turned for devotional matter. ' 0 Continuity with the past was essential, not only to preserve particular devotions and practices in a persecuted religious community, but to draw a spiritual, cultural and psychological connection between pre-Reformation Catholicism and the remnant of the church that struggled for survival in England. Traditional themes of Catholic devotion are, therefore, predictably well-represented in the vernacular literature produced for an English readership. The Eucharist 10S ee Heigham, The spiritual pilgrimage of Hierusalem and Edward Walpole, trans., The pilgrim of Loreto. Performing his vow made to the glorious Virgin Mary Mother of God. Containing divers devout meditations upon the Christian & Cath. Doctrine (St Omer, 1629) STC 21023. 37 When the third English edition of Fulvio Androzzi's Certain devout considerations of frequenting the blessed sacrament appeared in 1624, the blessed sacrament had not been frequented in England for well over half a century. Few of those who picked up the text would ever have seen the Mass celebrated publicly. For the vast majority of Androzzi's readers, the Eucharist belonged to a different and increasingly distant era. For the typical English Catholic of 1617, the communal, public celebration of the Eucharist was not even a memory. This text, and so many like it, directed the devotion of the reader to a sacrament which was for many only rarely witnessed and a ceremony which was for everyone dangerous to attend. But the illegality of the Mass within the English Catholic community made texts on the Eucharist, on `receiving, ' on adoration and even on the proper way to participate in the Mass neither superfluous nor unnecessary,b ut absolutely essential. It was the Mass, after all, more than any rite or belief, that defined the Catholic. It was the Mass, therefore, above every other exercise and devotion that had to be maintained, if not in practice at least in the collective imagination of English Catholics. It is the editor John Heigham who best expressedt he situation in his Certain very pious and Godly considerations. Proper to be exercised whilst the incruental [sic] Sacrifice of the Mass is celebrated. Set forth for the comfort and benefit of all devout Catholics when he addresses ̀his dear countrymen, the persecuted and afflicted Catholics of England: Considering with myself your manifold oppressions for the honour which you bear to this holy sacrifice, and that your love and zeal to the same is the principal cause of your present calamity, my desire was to address unto you this little treatise, to increase your daily comfort and devotion in that for which you suffer such discomfort and is the cause to increase your 38 daily sorrows. For most certain it is, that when the devotion of Catholics shall wax cold towards this sacrifice, all Christian faith itself and religion will fall to decay.' 1 But such was the demand for texts on the Eucharist and so zealous was the devotion towards the Mass that it was unlikely that such a calamitous event would ever take place. The press responded with zeal and with an abundance of material to promote devotion to the Mass, among which were Luca Pinelli's Meditations of the most B. sacrament of the altar, and frequenting the Holy Communion12 which was also translated as Brief meditations of the most hol sacrament and of preparation, for receiving the same. And of some other things appertaining to the greatnessa nd devotion of so worthy a mystery; ' 3 Matthew Kellison's Meditations, and devout discourses upon the B. Sacrament composed by Ch. M.; 14R obert Southwell's A poem declaring the real presence of Christ in the blessed sacrament of the altar; 15A ndres de Soto's A brief instruction how we ought to hear the Mass, and with what disposition, and preparation, and of that which there ought to be considered, and meditated, and the fruits which come of hearing it; 16A ntonio de Molina's A treatise of the " John Heigham, Certain very pious and Godly considerations. Proper to be exercised whilst the incruental [sic] Sacrifice of the Mass is celebrated. Set forth for the comfort and benefit of all devout Catholics (Douai, 1611), STC 14568.7, sig. B9`-ß 12T homas Everard, trans., Mediations of the most B. sacramento f the altar, and frequenting the Holy Communion (St Omer, 1622), STC 19937.5. 13H enry Garnet, trans., Brief meditations of the most holy sacrament and of preparation, for receiving the same. And of some other things appertaining to the greatness and devotion of so worthy am stern (England, secret press, 1598-1601), STC 19937. 14M atthew Kellison, Meditations, and devout discourses upon the B. Sacrament composed by Ch. M. (Douai, 1639), STC 17128. 15R obert Southwell, A poem declaring the real presenceo f Christ in the blessed sacramento f the altar (Douai, 1606), STC 14560.5. 16A rthur Bell, trans., A brief instruction how we ought to hear the Mass, and with what disposition and preparation, and of that which there ought to be considered, and meditated, and the fruits which come of hearing it (Brussels, 1624), not in STC, ARCR II, 54. 39 holy sacrifice of the Mass, and the excellencies thereof; 17 John Heigham's A devout exposition of the holy Mass. With an ample declaration of all the rites and ceremonies belonging to the same;1 8t he Jesuit Thomas Wright's The disposition or garnishment of the soul to receive worthily the blessed sacrament; 19a nd I. P. 's A treatise showing how the sacrifice of the holy Mass the worthy receiving of Christ's body in the holy sacrament the power to remit sins given to churchmen, the praying to saints help all good Christians to salvation. 20 The fact that many Catholics could not regularly, or without considerable risk, participate in the Mass was the very reason why so many texts appeared promoting devotion to the Sacrament of the Altar. Catholics who had been deprived for decadeso f their central act of worship and the principal source of their religious identity were consoled and uplifted by the books that would not allow the Eucharist to disappear from English life. They were encouraged by words like these: ̀ Considering therefore that all the meats which God hath provided for the use of man, this of the most B. Sacrament be the most delicate and most excellent above all others... m ost diligently to be 17J ohn Floyd, ed., A treatise of the holy sacrifice of the Mass, and the excellencies thereof (St Omer, 1623), STC 18001. The manager of the English College press at St Omer, John Wilson, dedicates the work to `the right honourable and most virtuous gentlewoman, Mistress Mary Petre &c. ' and speaks of `the constant report of your devotion to the most holy mystery of the Mass. ' Sig. *2`. 18J ohn Heigham, A devout exposition of the holy Mass. With an ample declaration of all the rites and ceremonies belonging to the same (Douai, 1614), STC 13033. 19T homas Wright, S. J., The disposition or garnishment of the soul to receive worthily the blessed sacrament divided into three discourses, I preparation. 2 Presentation before Christ. 3 Entertainment (Antwerp, 1596), STC 26038.8. 201. P., A treatise showing how the sacrifice of the holy Mass the worthy receiving of Christ's body in the holy sacrament the power to remit sins given to churchmen, the praying to saints help all good Christians to salvation (Rouen, 1614), STC 19072.3. See Chapter 4 for the polemical dimension of many devotional works. 40 chewed in the mouth of our mind. ' 21T o chew with the `mouth of our mind, ' that is to meditate on the mystery of the Eucharist, no priest was needed, but the book that provided meditations and pious contemplations on the Mass would have been very useful indeed. The Virgin Mary The enduring popularity of the Virgin Mary in the religious expression of early-modern England ensured that literature promoting her cult would play an important role in the re-assertion of traditional forms of Catholic piety in post- Reformation England. Visual images of the Virgin that were familiar to every English woman and man, images in glass or stone or wood, statues, paintings, or the ubiquitous rood screenst hat portrayed the Virgin and St John at the foot of the Cross, had been - for the most part, at least - destroyed and removed. Pulling down and breaking up the physical artefacts of the old religion was a relatively straightforward operation. But dismantling such a popular devotion from the common imagination would be a more difficult task: `Her cult came second only to that of Christ himself, and towered above that of all other saints.' 22 The intense and enduring interest in the Virgin Mary and her unparalleled appeal as a source of comfort and consolation to the English Catholic community guaranteed that she would not be easily removed from the 21T homas Everard, trans., Certain devout considerationso f frequenting the blessed sacrament (Douai, 1617), STC 632, sig. * 11'. 22E amon Duffy, The Stripping of the Altars, p. 256. 41 devotional scene in England, her `ancient Dowry. '23 This enduring interest can even be quantified as we consider the number of books that appeared promoting devotion to the Virgin. These include Robert Chamber's translation of a work Miracles lately wrought by the intercession of the glorious virgin Marie; 24a work by the anonymous R. F. called The Psalter of the B. virgin MqU. Containing many devout prayers and petitions; 25a nother work that may have been produced by him or someone else with the same initials, An admirable method to love, serve, and honour the B. virgin Mary. With divers practicable exercises thereof; 26J ohn Gerard's translation of Lorenzo Scupoli's The spiritual conflict, the 1613 edition of which was `newly reprinted with the litanies of the B. virgin Mary. '27 Several works were devoted to the popular theme of the Virgin's home in Loreto, 28s uch as Edward Walpole's The pilgrim of Loreto. Performing his vow made to the glorious Virgin ry Mother of God. Containing divers devout meditations upon the Christian & Cath. Doctrine (Figure 2.1); 29R obert Corbington's The miraculous origin and translation of the church of our B. Lady of Loreto; 30a nd 23E ngland was often referred to as `Our Lady's Dowry. ' Henry Garnet, S. J., trans., The society of the rosary, newly augmented. Together with the life of the glorious Virgin Mary (St Omer, 1624), STC 11617.6, sig. A4". 24R obert Chambers, trans., Miracles lately wrought by the intercession of the glorious virgin Marie (Antwerp, 1606), STC 18746. 25R . F. The Psalter of the B. virgin Mary. Containing many devout prayers and petitions (St Omer, 1624), STC 17542.7. 26R . F., An admirable method to love, serve, and honour the B. virgin Mary. With divers practicable exercises thereof (Rouen, 1639), STC 21628. 27J ohn Gerard, trans., The spiritual conflict (Rouen, 1613), STC 22128. 28C atholic tradition holds that the home of the Holy Family was miraculously translated from Nazareth to Italy in 1291, and after three other moves of shorter distances, it was finally settled in Loreto. Several Counter-Reformation saints, such as Charles Borromeo, Ignatius Loyola and Francis de Sales paid special veneration to the shrine. 29E dward Walpole, trans., The pilgrim of Loreto. Performing his vow made to the glorious Virgin Marv Mother of God. Containing divers devout meditations upon the Christian & Cath. Doctrine (St Omer, 1629), STC 21023. 30R obert Corbington, trans., The miraculous origin and translation of the church of our B. Lady of Loreto (Loreto, 1635), STC 3884a. Corbington also published the text in the Scots Figure 2.1 This translation was actually printed in St.O mer and is one example of the wide appeal of Marian devotional literature. 42 Thomas Price's The history of our B. Lady of Loreto. 31M ost works, however, presented traditional methods and themes related to Marian devotion, like Henry Garnet's popular The society of the rosary. Wherein is contained the beginning, increase & profit of the same. Also the orders & manifold graces annexed unto it, with divers other things thereunto appertaining32a nd Sabine Chambers' The garden of our B. Lady. Or a devout manner to serve her in her rosary 33o r Anthony Batt's A poor man's mite... concerning the rosary or psalter of our blessed lady. 34A method, to meditate on the psalter, or great rosary of our blessed Lady includes engravings which assisted the reader in his or her devotions. 35 John Wilson translated or edited at least three Marian works. His The little garden of our B. Lady. Or, divers practical exercises in her honour offers practical advice to beginners: Now for the more ignorant, that they may practice likewise of the fruit of devotion, before they begin their beads I would counsel them, to frame an imagination of the B. Virgin in one of these three manners, as vulgarly they are accustomed to delineate her: either with the angel saluting her, or holding her B. Son betwixt her arms, or finally all glorious in heaven, ready to hear or grant our petition. 36 dialect in the samey ear with the title The wondrus flittinge of the kirk of our B. Lady of Loreto (Loreto, 1635), STC 23884a. 31T homas Price, trans., The history of our B. Lady of Loreto (St Omer, 1608), STC 24140.5. 32H enry Garnet, The society of the rosary. Wherein is contained the beginning, increase & profit of the same. Also the orders & manifold graces annexed unto it, with divers other things thereunto appertaining (England, secret press, 1593-94), STC 11617.2. The 1624 edition of the text was `newly augmented. Together with the life of the glorious virgin Mary. ' (St Omer, 1624), STC 11617.6. 33S abine Chambers, The garden of our B. Lady. Or a devout manner to serve her in her rosary (St Omer, 1619), STC 4955. 34A nthony Batt, A poor man's mite. A letter of a religious man of the order of Saint Benedict, unto a sister of his, concerning the rosary or psalter of our blessed Lady (Douai, 1639), STC 1589.5 35A non., A method, to meditate on the psalter, or great rosary of our blessed Lady (Secret press, England, 1598), STC 17538 36J ohn Wilson, trans., The little garden of our B. Lady. Or, divers practical exercises in her honour (St Omer, 1626), STC 15117.3, sig. *3r-'. 43 Wilson's The devotion of bondage. Or an easy practice of perfectly consecrating ourselves to the service of the B. Virgin provided a more rigorous manner of devotion to the Virgin by way of a special formula of consecration: `0 my lord Jesus, I am your servant: I am your bondslave, and bondslave of your sacred mother. This prayer, ' Wilson advises his reader, `may serve for all persons: and women may if they will, change the word servant for handmaid. '37 An exercise angelical. For everyday of the week. To stir up ourselves daily more and more to the love of the B. Virgin, the glorious and All-immaculate mother of God38c ontains fourteen exercises, one for the morning and evening of each day of the week. The exercise for Tuesday morning begins as each one does, with an elocution from the Virgin about herself and the example of a particular saint presented for inspiration and imitation: I am the mother of mercy, sayeth the glorious mother of God. Will you love me my dear Child, as did my darling B. Stanislaus. He did love me as his Mother, and I tendered him as my child. He gave me all that he had, &I gave him all that he desired.. will be a sincere and faithful a mother to you with a heart .1 truly maternal, that if you love me sincerely as you ought, you have in you an evident sign of Predestination to attain a most blessed, and everlasting life. 39 In addition to these specifically Marian books, the devotional literature of the period is replete with references to the Virgin Mary or opportunities to contemplate her glory or to implore her intercession. The title of a work by Luis de la Puente, Meditations upon the mysteries of our holy faith with the 37J ohn Wilson, trans., The devotion of bondage. Or an easy practice of perfectly consecrating our selves to the service of the B. Virgin (St Omer, 1634), STC 6793.3, sig. C3`-" 38J ohn Wilson, ed., The burning lamp. To enlighten such, as truly desire to attain to perfection (St Omer, 1635), STC 12144.5. 44 practice of mental prayer, (Figure 2.2) does not reveal that a large portion of the text is devoted to meditations upon the life of the Virgin Mary. 40 The ,S aints The Virgin Mary was not the only source of solace and comfort for the English Catholic, and the press drew heavily on the heroic men and women of earlier ages and more recent times who provided both encouragement and example for the persecuted religious community. Prior to the Reformation, saints had been everywhere in England. Shrines built to honour them and to house their relics became the destination of countless pious pilgrims. Their feasts filled the calendar and the festivals held in their honour interrupted the otherwise monotonous routine of early-modem life. Saints were patrons for every occupation and protectors for every endeavour.4 1I t is no wonder, then, when their figures loomed so large in public and private life, that their stories and legends were told and retold. The Reformation did its best, of course, to dismantle their reputations and discourage their veneration, a practice always ripe for abuse, tending, it was assumed, to lead the simple soul away from true worship of God to the idolatrous worship of mere mortals. Restoring the Word of God to the central position of Christian worship required that the saints be relegated to a marginal position there. The Eucharist and excessive devotion to the Virgin Mary were likewise the objects of scornful disdain by the Reformers; it is no wonder then 39I bid, sig. Q3". 40J ohn Heigham, trans., Meditations upon the mysteries of our holy faith with the practice of mental prayer touching the same (St Omer, 1619), STC 20486. 41S ee Duffy, The Stripping of the Altars, pp. 155-205. A ,r. T' T. i I6X94 Figure 2.2 Marian devotion could be contained in books not devoted to the subject, such as this one. 45 that, like them, and by way of reaction, devotion to the saints would also be encouraged in the devotional literature produced for the English Catholic community. The `admirable lives, ' and especially the martyrologies - the records of heroic suffering and steadfast endurance - discussed in greater detail in Chapter 4, provided the English reader with an example of constancy amidst persecution and courage in the face of constant danger. The Passion Of course the greatest example of innocent suffering was the passion of Christ, and meditation on Christ's cruel torment and bitter affliction would have had a particular meaning for those who considered themselves unjustly punished for their fidelity to him and his church. Like the other matter for devotion discussed above - the Eucharist, the Virgin Mary, the saints - the Passion was an enduring devotional motif, indeed the most enduring inheritance from medieval piety. Meditation on the Passion was `the staple of the religious practice of the devout and the religious elite of late medieval England and Europe in General.' 42 And the spirituality of the Counter-Reformation would perpetuate its popularity: its meditative practices were largely focused on the life and passion of Christ; while the humanity of Christ.. .w as the object of increased 43 veneration. ' No symbol was more common - nor more potent - in medieval and early-modem society than the symbol of Christ's suffering, the Cross. No 42I bid, p. 265. 46 other symbol, regardless of its sophistication, nor words however erudite, could capture the essenceo f the Christian faith as well as the simple Cross: Christ's death, whose terrors and horrors were increasingly elaborated and appreciated after the Cross of Victory became the Cross of Sacrifice in the twelfth century, was also central to the understanding of God in a religion which, through its Gospel emphasis, was essentially an incarnational religion. The human Christ, living and dying, was central to the relationships created through religion. Christ, as human, was accessible, approachable.4 4 And Christ was never more human nor more accessible than when he hung upon the Cross. This accessibility was certainly one reason why the passion and Cross are the most common matter for meditation available in the pages of devotional books of the period: `The dwelling on the details of Christ's sufferings reflected in the realism of late medieval images of the Crucifix, or in the visual listing of the instruments of the passion in the Images of Pity.. .w ere vital elements in an understanding of redemption in which the humanity shared by Saviour and sinner was central. The Crucifix was the icon of Christ's abiding solidarity with suffering humanity. '45 More than the nativity and even the resurrection, the passion remained the focus of so many authors whose intention was to keep this event of singular importance at the centre of the spiritual lives of English Catholics. The author of The exercise of a Christian life explained to his readers that it was the passion above all else that was to be considered during Mass: 43H . O. Evennett, `Counter-Reformation spirituality, ' in The Counter-Reformation, D. Lubeke, ed., (Oxford, 1999), pp. 63. 44R . N. Swanson, `Passion and Practice: the social and ecclesiastical implications of passion devotion in the late middle ages,' in The Broken Body: Passion Devotion in Late-Medieval Culture A. A. MacDonald, et al., eds. (Groningen, 1998), p. 1. 45D uffy, The Stripping of the Altars, p. 237. 47 When the priest sayeth Mass, hearken diligently to such words as he pronounceth, without either reading thy self, or saying any other prayers & devotions, at least wise while the priest readeth out; yea much more commendable should it be to occupy thee all the while he celebrateth, in... good thought or meditation, rather than reading and praying in thy book; yea thou oughtest chiefly at such time to remember the passion of Christ our Saviour and redeemer, [since] the holy Mass is a memorial of the same, and both the priests attire and all the ornaments of the altar, with the ceremonies which be used in the saying of the Mass, do all represent and signify such things unto us.4 6 Henry Garnet's translation of a four-volume work on the mysteries of Christ's life reveals the contemporary bias for the passion: `But as in the Passion of Christ our saviour doth chiefly appear the excess of his love to mankind, so hath also this author [Vincenzo Bruno, S. J.] in handling the same passion exceeded his own devout spirit which abundantly showeth in all the rest. '47 The Jesuit John Falconer's Fasciculus Myrrhae. Or a brief treatise of our Lord and Saviour's Passion calls upon the reader to consider the benefits humanity received from the suffering endured by Christ: Blows cruelly laid on, and multiplied by his... executioners, did widen and increase the number of his wounds: and the continuance of them, did cause streams of blood, and pieces of flesh, torn from the tenderest parts of his body, to fall on the ground together, as lamentable ruins of that Godly temple, then beginning to be defaced & trodden under hangemen's feet to be by him, to whom they were offered, prized the more, to be more effectually, and serve to obtain heavenly blessings more abundantly for us. So balm trees are wont to be gashed for their medicinal and fragrant juice may run more plentifully from them. So clouds do stream to water barren places, so fields are plowed and prepared, that seedsm ay grow up afterwards 46S tephen Brinkley, trans., The exercise of a Christian life (England, secret press, 1579), STC 16641.5, sig. B vi r-" 47H enry Garnet, S.J ., trans., The first part of the meditations of the passion & resurrection of Christ our Saviour (England, secret press, not before 1598), STC 3941.1, sig. ¶ 2`. 48 fruitfully in them: for holy souls (dear Lord) may be rightly said, to grow in and from thy wounds. 48 Placing the reader at the sceneso f the scourging and crucifixion was a common technique among spiritual writers who clearly believed it to be the most efficacious way of moving the reader to compassion and compunction. It was a practice the Jesuit Fulvio Androzzi calls 'representation': `Representation is nothing else but to imagine the mystery upon which we [are] to meditate forming for ourselves the place where it is done, the thing itself which is done, and the persons that do it. As for example in the mystery of the crucifying of our saviour, to set before our imagination the mount Calvary & the Crucifix which gushed out blood on every side.' 49 Witnessing the terrible suffering with the eyes of the imagination, the reader could not help but be moved to pity and compassion, and, it was certainly hoped, to remorse and repentance for the sins for which these ̀ bitter dolours' were endured. In a work he edited called A brief directory, and plain way how to say the Rosary of our blessed lady John Mitchell places the reader in the crowd of on-lookers as Jesus is scourged at he pillar: See them beating, first the one side, then the other, so pitifully martyring him, not only with rods, but with whips and cords, that there was no place of all his body, not his sides, not his arms, not his back, his breast, his belly, his thighs, his legs, his feet, but were either torn with the whips or rods, the streams of blood freshly trickling down, or else full of great...s wellings of the sore stripes.5 0 48J ohn Falconer, Fasciculus Myrrhae. Or a brief treatise of our Lord and Saviour's passion (St Omer, 1633), STC 10676, sig. B 11" -B 12`. 49T homas Everard, S. J., trans., Meditations upon the passion of our Lord Jesus Christ (Douai, 1606), STC 632.7, sig. CI ''. 49 Mitchell adds to the work on the rosary A brief treatise of our most grievous pains that our saviour Jesus Christ suffered for us wretched sinners: taken out of Bonaventure upon the passion which provides him with additional opportunities to move the reader to visualise the extent of Christ's sufferings: `And then being all wet with fresh and warm blood, the tormentors put upon him a garment of silk, which did so cleave unto his wounds and dried up his blood, that it was as if it had been congealed and fast glued unto his body. ' 51 The printer Wynkin de Worde had twice printed a work that had applied this exercise of visualisation, first calling it Here beginneth a contemplation or meditation of the shedding of the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ at seven times52a nd later as The vii sheddings of the blood of Jesus Christ. 53N early a century later it was included in an anthology of devotional books published by John Heigham with the title A brief and profitable exercise of the seven principal effusions of the precious blood of our Lord and saviour Jesus. Wherewith we may exercise ourselves all the days in the week, in one of these seven effusions against the seven mortal sins. And to obtain the seven virtues contrary to the aforesaid vices. 54 As the title suggests,t he effusions are divided into the days of the week, upon which the reader is to imagine a different aspect of the passion: `First upon the Sunday, we are to have in memory the first effusion of our Lord and saviour Jesus, the which was in the garden of Olivet. In this day ought the devout soul to enter into this garden, 50J ohn Mitchell, A brief directo! 3ý, and plain way how to say the rosary of our blessed Lady (England, secret press, 1576) STC 17136, sig. B4"-B51. 51I bid, sig. Dviii"-Ei'. 52A non., Here beginneth a contemplation or meditation of the shedding of the blood of our Lord JesusC hrist at sevent imes (London, c. 1500). 53A non., The vii sheddings of the blood of Jesus Christ (London, 1509) 50 and to contemplate as if he were present in spirit. ' 55 Unlike other methods of contemplation in which the individual was directed to dismiss affections and to curb the excesseso f the imagination, to clear the mind even of pious and godly thoughts, when it came to contemplating the passion the individual was rather encouraged not simply to imagine or speculate but to envision and witness the events. ̀ And then the devout soul ought to approach and to join him to Jesus Christ prostrate upon the ground, and by amorous compassion to lift him from the earth and to gather up the drops of his most precious blood, 56 and to pour them into the vial of his heart. ' The Carthusian Antonio de Molina required his readers to do more than contemplate the suffering of Christ, he required them to witness it: [T]hey tie him very hard to a pillar of that court, and begin to whip him most furiously with all the force they had, all is body over, without any kind of pity: and some soldiers being wearied, there come others with a fresh supply, with other kinds of whips, for the first were now half broken or worn-out, and perhaps they untie him, and turn his other side from the pillar, that no whole place may be found in all his body; and these also whip him until they be weary. 57 Traditional themes of Catholic devotion joined the contemporary English Catholic community to the more secure and stable past as well as to their co-religionists on the continent. In this way, these book satisfied an obvious need for continuity and a senseo f permanence and religious stability. As much as continuity and tradition were appreciated - and relied upon - sa Contained in John Heigham, ed., Six spiritual books, full of marvelous piety and devotion (Douai, 1611), STC 14568.7 ss Ibid, sig. G7'. 56I bid, sig. G8`-" 57J ohn Wilson, trans., A treatise of mental prayer. In which is briefly declared the manner how to exercise the inward acts of virtues (St Omer, 1617), STC 18000, sig. A4`". 51 devotional authors and translators must have realised that it was variety that would attract the eye of the discerning Catholic book-buyer. Variety and Devotional Literature The epistles that introduce many of these works provide evidence that church- papists needed to be convinced to stay away from the services of the established church, but they also needed to be convinced that they should acquire Catholic texts of devotion. Pressure was applied in the former cause, but it was charm, the allure of something interesting and new -a different way of praying the Rosary, an illustrated meditation on the passion, or the story of `miracles lately wrought' - which was used to entice the potential reader. Convincing some people of the benefits or necessity of reading spiritual books, and making these books more attractive by variety and choice, was a requirement, not an option. It is important for the modern observer to understand what contemporaries certainly understood: for many people, prayer and meditation did not come easily or naturally. Prefaces to devotional books are packed with reasons and explanations, with scriptural quotes and patristic evidence why prayer and devotion were important for the lay man and woman. These reasons and proofs, the exhortations and explanations tell us that this importance was not obvious to everyone. The Catholic press met the need for variety in two ways: first, by providing potential readers with several types of books within the genre of devotional material; and second, by providing within the books themselves 52 different ways to approach the text or the practices it recommended, adapting the text to different tastes and temperaments so that it was `accommodated to the divers estates of those that meditate. '58 Authors, editors, and translators recognised that the English Catholic audience for whom they employed their talents and labours were a vastly disparate group whose reading habits - or even abilities - whose tastes, temperaments and devotional predilections, differed widely. The comments of the Jesuit Sabine Chambers testify to both the wide variety of devotional preferences: `Many ways there be of praying, some mental, some vocal, others manual, by well performing our daily functions; and each of these is divided into sundry branches; all good, but not all fit for every one, by reason of the diversity of men's inclinations. ' But, he recognises that all cannot mount up with the apostles unto the height of mysteries, but the multitude must stay below in the vale of vocal prayer, and there serve God in reading devout books & in saying their beads, which humble way of prayer was practised by most men before Luther's time for some hundreds of years, although there wanted not most learned, wise, and Godly men, who most devoutly employed themselves, as well in Martha's devotion, as in Mary's high contemplation. 59 His confrere Henry Garnet, S. J. accommodated his work for those readers who would have found more recondite works on the spiritual life uninviting or inaccessible: `I have for the most part framed myself, unto the simpler sort: for such are they which most please our lady, & in which she most delighteth: my intent having been in this little treatise, that as the beads are the unlearned man's book; so also such persons might here find whatsoever is necessary for 58H eigham, Meditations upon the mysteries of our Holte, sig. C2". 53 their devotion. '60 Books like this which appeal to the `simpler sort' and like John Bucke's Instructions for the use of the beads which were intended for `the husbandman in the fields.. t labourer . he with his toiling.. .t he simple.. .t he woman.. the poor'61 (Figure 2.3) as well as Richard Gibbons' . translation A spiritual doctrine. [Olf prayers and meditations... for the daily use and practice of the meanest capacity62i ndicate that Christopher Haigh is not correct when he says that `the devotional works printed for English Catholics were designed for the 63 gentry family.... ' The press responded to the popular demand for variety by supplying a number of literary styles that could arouse devotion in different ways. Catechisms, manuals of prayers, spiritual directories, treatises on meditation and contemplation, these and the devotional books that belong to none of these categories, were all employed to enhance the spiritual lives of English Catholics. This appreciation of the wide variety of devotional books that were made available to English Catholics forces the modern student of the period to recognise one of the most easily forgotten aspects of English Catholicism of this period: English Catholics were not all the same. Differences in class, sex, education and expressions of piety determined that there could not exist for this diverse community complete uniformity of devotion. So the genre had to s9C hambers, The garden of our B. Lady, sig. A1'. 60G arnet, The Society of the Rosary. Newly Augmented, sig. A6'. 61C ited in Michael A. Mullet, Catholics in Britain and Ireland (New York, 1998), p. 7. 62R ichard Gibbons, S. J., trans, A spiritual doctrine. [Olf prayers and meditations (Douai, 1624), STC 16922a. 9. 63H aigh, `From monopoly to minority, ' p. 138. The number of individuals who had access to books was certainly larger than the number that owned them. Being read to was certainly one way the illiterate benefited from devotional books which they could not read themselves. For literacy levels in this period, see David Cressy Literacy and the Social Order (Cambridge, 1980), pp. 42-61 and `Levels of illiteracy in England, 1530-1730, ' The Historical Journal, 20 (1977), pp. 1-23. Figure 2.3 'Compiled for the benefit ... of the unlearned' John Bucke's Instructions for the use of the beads is one of a number of books which provide the reader with a method of praying the Rosary. 54 appeal to and serve the widest audience, the learned and theologically inquisitive as well as the barely literate, the professional religious - exiled clerics, monks, friars and nuns - as well as the lay men and women, the spiritually ambitious as well as the religiously indifferent. 64 Devotional books not only formed but also reflected the devotional character of post-Reformation English Catholicism. The press set out to create and strengthen Catholic devotion, but it also needed to respond to popular piety and the varied expressions of the same. No single book, no single type of book could hope to satisfy the spiritual needs of every reader. The Jesuit Ignatius Balsamo was both realistic and humble enough to realise that his book An instruction how to pray and meditate well could not please every reader, nor for that matter could any book. It is his advice that `Each one ought to read those books which are most to his gust, and which he hath experimented to have brought him most profit. And therefore he ought to prove divers, and then to hold himself to that which he findeth fittest for him. ' 65H is confrere Thomas Everard, no stranger to the production of devotional literature, was convinced that innovation and diversity would be key to the popular successo f printed piety: `The variety of matter, together with pious documents for the direction, and spiritual profit of the soul, & the plain and easy method of 64A s certain texts were directed to the unlearned, at least one was directed to the wealthier English Catholics. Jane Owen dedicated her work An antidote against purgatory. Or discourse, wherein is showed that good-works, and alms deeds, performed in the name of Christ, are a chief means for the preventing, or mitigating the torments of purgatory `To the worthy and constant Catholics of England. And more particularly, to such who be of the best temporal means. ' Charity and almsgiving, `pious liberality employed upon others' could only be exercised by those who possessed the temporal means required for charity and liberality. (St Omer, 1634), STC 18984, sig. *9`. 65J ohn Heigham, trans., An instruction how to pray and meditate well. Into thirty six chapters. Composed at the request of certain lovers of piety, desirous to advance themselves in perfection. By the reverend Father Ignatius Balsamo priest of the Society of Jesus. And translated out of French into English by John Heigham (St Omer, 1622), STC 1341, sig. H5`-" 55 treating the same, will breed daily new delights, without tediousness.' 66 The devotional author Matthew Kellison was astute enough to observe in his Meditations and devout discourses upon the B. Sacrament that `the nature of man is desirous of novelty and change and variety. '67 And the Benedictine Thomas Hill (alias Buckland) was confident that what he produced would please the discerning reader: ̀ And as I have assigned for every day throughout the year one meditation, to keep us in continual exercise thereof: so have I assigned but one point upon a day, to take away tediousness, and to delight and recreate the reader with new and fresh matter every day. '68 Authors and translators were required to accommodate a vast array of devotional preferences that existed among English Catholics. The printer Henry Jaye needed to explain to the reader of Nicolao Berzetti's The practice of meditating with profit the mysteries of our Lord, the blessed Virgin and saints that the material which might appear repetitious was instead necessary to provide for what he anticipated would be an audience with widely varying devotional tastes: In the places from which we are here taught to draw matter of meditation, as conditions of persons, words, and actions that occur in any mystery, they shall perhaps find such store and variety, as may some seem superfluous, at the least, if not troublesome. But they must consider, that this book is not for one man only, nor for one sort of understandings, but intendeth the common help of all that practice themselves in this spiritual 66T homas Everard, trans., Meditations upon the mysteries of our faith. Corresponding to the three ways, purgative, illuminative, and unitive. Composed in Spanish by the Reverend Father Luis de la Puente of the Society of Jesus. Abridged and translated into English by a member of the same Society (St Omer, 1624), STC 20487, sig. *4r. 67M atthew Kellison, Meditations and devout discourses upon the B. Sacrament (Douai, 1639), STC 17128, sig. b7r. 68T homas Hill, A plain pathway to heaven. Meditations or spiritual discoursesa nd illuminations upon the gospels of all the year. ..b y Thomas Buckland, of the most venerable and holy order of St Benedict (Douai, 1634), STC 13468, sig. W. 56 exercise. It was necessary,t herefore, to make this provision for all as out of it everyone might fit himself of matter for his own discourse, and take that which he findeth most agreeable with his own manner of proceeding.6 9 Father Henry Garnet, S. J. was compelled to address his reader in a similar style: `Who knoweth not that as men's vains be diverse in writing, so likewise affections in reading not all one, and therefore both with profit and pleasure many good works may be published of the same matter, the latter either for method, perspicuity, or some other notable thing, adding somewhat what the former was wanting. ' 70L ikewise, the anonymous translator P. R. begins his treatise The art to die well readily acknowledging that there was already an abundant supply of books of this sort; it was a well-established genre of medieval devotional literature. But even within this particular, time-tested genre there was room for improvement and even improvisation: If any chance to marvel why I should now set forth this little treatise of the Art to die well, after so many already printed of that nature; I desire them to reflect upon the variety of men's affections, who are not all alike attracted with one manner of explication of any argument. But the subject of this discourse being so necessarya nd the practice thereof so profitable and (as I may say) so pleasant, there can no variety be superfluous, or any new method too tedious: therefore leaving everyone to his choice, among many that I have read, this liked me the best.7 ' And Matthew Kellison acknowledged that `Although I was not ignorant that many authors have written meditations of the B. Sacrament and the sacred 69T homas Talbot, trans., The practice of meditating with profit the mysteries of our Lord, the blessed Virgin and saints (Mechlin, 1613), STC 4125, sig. a2`-" 70H enry Garnet, trans., The little memorial concerning the use of the sacraments (England, secret press, 1602), STC 742, sig. ¶ 2"-3`. 57 passion of Christ yet... I now judge my meditations upon the same subjects hoping that after reading of the former books, some out of desire for change will be content to read mine. '72 Authors and printers appreciated the diverse composition of their audience as well as the human desire for novelty. Over and over again they advertise to the reader that they have attempted to ward off tedium and monotony since they, like their readers, were convinced that `variety in all exercises is a remedy against weariness, and especially in matters of devotion. '73 They knew as well, perhaps better than anyone, that spiritual books could be laboured and tiresome, and so the books were often promoted as providing something new and innovative. The pattern of all pious prayer, and the epitome of all Christian Catholic belief offered traditional devotional material but with a novel presentation: `The subject is old, therefore it is to be reverenced. The paraphrase is new (without ostentation be it spoken) none having ever written in this way before, and therefore is to be loved for its rarity. ' 74 The reader familiar with only one way to pray the Rosary was offered any number of variations on the devotion, including a Garland of roses, or a Rosary, to be said every week once, consisting of fifteen decadeso r tens, as the usual custom is, which not withstanding, may be divided into three several days 71P . R., The art to die well. Or a brief and easy method, how to direct ones life, to a secure and happy end. divided into three parts. By P. R. for his own particular comfort, and profit of such, as will take pains to use it (St Omer, 1626), STC 20585.5, sig. A2r"". 72M atthew Kellison, Meditations and devout discourses upon the B. Sacrament composed by Ch. M. (Douai, 1639), STC 17128, sig, al". 73T homas Everard, trans., The practice of Christian works. Written in Spanishb y the R. Father Francis Borgia sometimesD uke of Gandia, and the third General of the Society of Jesus. Together with a short Rule how to live well (St Omer, 1620), STC 11315, sig. I4r" 74 Anon., The pattern of all pious prayer, sig. avr. 58 of the week, if one have not leisure to say it all at once. As also the same may be abbreviated into 3 Pater Nosters, and 15 Ave Maries, saying one Pater noster, &5 Ave Maries, for the Joyful Mysteries. Another Pater Noster with five Ave Maries, for the Dolorous Mysteries. And the third Pater Noster &5 last Ave Maries for the Glorious Mysteries. 75 Or the method described in The pilgrim of Loreto. Performing his vow made to the glorious Virgin Marv Mother of God. Containing divers devout meditations upon the Christian & Cath. Doctrine where `Every mystery must be considered with an oblation and a prayer, either before or after the Ave Maria; ' 76o r yet another method devised by R. F. in his An admirable method to love, serve and honour the B. Virgin Marv. With divers practicable exercises thereof. All enriched with Choice Examples. This text of over 600 pages proposes to `teach in a devout and excellent manner how to reverence and adore with profound inclinations our B. Lady and mistress the Queen of Heaven.' 77 It too offers a new way to practice an old devotion. This method of praying the rosary must have appealed to the devout reader in search of novelty, who would not only have found the number of Aves significantly reduced, but the corresponding mysteries entirely changed. R. F. 's rosary consists of 63 Ave Marias, being the number of years the B. Virgin lived on earth, it is both devout and mysterious; wherefore it were good, that in saying over the beads, we inclined at every Ave Maria in memory of each year of her B. Life, and each virtue in which she was exercised the while, which if it be duly performed, what an excellent devotion must it necessarily be, whilst we commemorate how she lived an infant, how in 75J ohn Wilson, trans., The devotion of bondage. Or an easy practice of perfectly consecrating our selves to the service of the B. Virgin (St Omer, 1634), STC 6793.3, sig. D1 ̀ "v 76Walpole, The pilgrim of Loreto, sig. Lllr. " R. F., trans., An admirable method to love, serve, and honour the B. Virgin Marv (Rouen, 1639), STC 21628, sig. a3`. 59 woman's state, and how all her life in every age thereof, according to the several decades of our beads upon every one, whilst we make devout and humble reverence me thinks we exceed in devotion, even the Angel whom we imitate, for he only once saluted her, but we as often as there are beads in the Rosary, and as oft as we shall say them over. 78 Or the reader may have preferred the method described in A brief Directory, and plain way how to say the Rosary of our blessed Lad[y]. With meditations for such as are not exercised therein. Whereunto are adjoined the prayers of S. Bridget with others,7 9o r the text that the Jesuit Joseph Creswell prepared for King Philip of Spain and his brothers as he was travelling to Barcelona: Cetrtain pious meditations upon the beads80o r the system proposed by the anonymous author of A method, to meditate on the psalter, or the great rosary of our blessed lady: with a preface in the defence and commendation of it. This latter work proposes a five-step procedure for contemplating the fifteen mysteries encountered in the rosary: `prepare,' `read,' `meditate, ' `give thanks, ' and `make request.' One attractive feature, in addition to the fifteen engravings that accompany the meditations, is the incorporation of verse into the text. Here is how the reader is presented with the `Seven points to be observed in the five parts of prayer aforesaid, but especially in meditation' : 78I bid. 79J ohn Mitchell, A brief Directory, and plain way how to say the Rosary of our blessed Lady. With meditations for such as are not exercised therein. Whereunto are adjoined the pray emirosf S. Bridget with others (Bruges, 1576), STC 17136. Like others texts on the Rosary, this one asks the reader to consider the state of his own life vis-ä-vis the virtues and hardships of the Virgin: `And here ye may consider with yourself the great goodness of God, that for his only son provided nothing that the world accompted needful, not houseroom, nor chamber, nor chimney, nor fire, not bolster nor pillow to lie upon: and yet hath sent us all these things with many more, not only to serve our necessities, but also to satisfy our vanities, as.. chambers right costly hanged, fair bedsteads . curiously carved, soft beds, not only of feathers, but of down also: Coverlets and counterpoints full of silk, and testers with curtains richly wrought and embroidered, full of all vanity and superfluity. ' Sig. A4"-A5". 80W hen it was printed in English (Creswell composedt he work in Spanish) it was included in a collection entitled The practice of Christian works (St Omer, 1620), STC 11315. A. F. 60 First, not for course prefixed thus, a better thought to shun: For when you have what you desire, What would you more have done? Next, shake superfluous insight off, from the understanding still: And so betake this charge unto affections of the will. The third advise, is that the will be not too vehement: To seek for sobs and tears by force, But quiet and content The fourth to use attention due, eschewing each extreme: Too much hurst too much, too little more, the best rests in the mean. The fifth, not to dismay yourself, although devotion fail: But patiently expect the end, in hope you may prevail The sixth, not to be over short, for a dew doth bring small gain: The barren soil which should be sowst with lusty showers of rain. The seventh, God's visitings to take, as quietly as you may: For man which shuns God seeking him May seek him and have nay. 81 Capturing the interest of some readers, then, required providing not only more books, but books that offered a different approach to spirituality and various ways of exercising devotion. As we have seen, many authors seized upon the popular demand for the new and exciting, but others were more reluctant to recognise the value of novelty in devotion. Those more sceptical authors realised that the novel soon became old and what was once refreshing and invigorating too easily become stale and vapid. By responding with such Allison, `The later life and writings of JosephC reswell, S. J. (1556-1623), RH, 15 (1979), p. 81. 8' Anon., A method, to meditate on the psalter, or the great rosary of our blessed lady: with a preface in the defence and commendation of it (Antwerp, 1598), STC 17538, sig. C3"-C4`. 61 gusto to the clamour for the new and innovative, authors and publishers could, it was feared, be encouraging a type of spiritual restlessness,h ardly the effect that books of piety and devotion were meant to achieve, especially in a religious environment which was for so many English Catholics already erratic and uncertain. A translator known only as I. M. was among those who did not share the contemporary enthusiasm for the `new fangled. ' He warned that `Many virtuously disposed souls delight greatly in variety & change of their spiritual exercises & embrace with great affection every novelty, seeking to know many ways to serve God: & ever think that to be preferred as the best, which is strange and unknown to them. ' The contempt in which the ordinary and common was held by the reading public was something that authors could not afford to ignore. I. M. continues: That which they thoroughly know and have used, they either loath or little esteem, such is the inconstancy of our nature. But this new fangled mutability, exceedingly hindereth all spiritual good and the progress of all virtue ...b etter it were diligently to keep and practice one (though it be a meaner) than to be either negligent in the best, or to be always inconstantly flitting from one to another.8 2 The Carmelite Simon Stock of St Mary, the religious name of Thomas Doughty or Dawson, 83a uthor of Jesus, Mary, Joseph. The practice how to find ease, rest, repose, content and happiness considered the very existence of so 82I . M., trans., A brief method or way teaching all sorts of Christian people, how to serve God in a most perfect manner. Written first in Spanish,b e a religious man, named Alphonso. And reduced out of Latin into English (England, secret press, 1602-1605), STC 535.5, sig. A4"- A5r. 83T he Protestant author John Gee refers to this book in his The foot out of the snare (London, 1624). The citation reads `Jesus, Mary, Joseph, lately come out of the press, printed in London, by Simons a Carmelite now in London. ' STC 11704. sig. Si'. Gee was correct that the imprint `Rouen, Jacques Fout' was false and that the book had been printed secretly in London. See Chapter 5 for a discussion of Gee and The foot out of the snare. 62 much devotional material an impediment to advancement in the spiritual life: `And considering that the great variety of ways, or means, which are set down by divers authors in spiritual books, do discourage and hinder many from practising spiritual life, as not knowing what method or means to use: I have for thy benefit brought them all into one...n ot to overload thee with many or confused methods.' 84A nd the translator of the Holy pictures of the mystical figures of the most holy sacrifice concluded that `Indeed, in earthly things, variety is cause of pleasure, but in case of religion, variety is the mother of nullity. "' Providing new methods of prayer or fashionable expressions of piety might do nothing to ward off boredom, some authors charged, but rather only increased spiritual indifference by constantly providing new opportunities to change one's prayers and devotions as the latest - what would now be called `trendy' - methods appeared in print. `He must not be inconstant, ' Ignatius Balsamo warned his reader, ̀ and now read one book and now another, but continue forth one book, from one end to the other. ' 86 True devotion required discipline and could not tolerate a spirit that was directed by whim or fancy. 84T homas Doughty, Jesus, Mary, Joseph. The practice of the presence of God, and how to seek, find, and enjoy him, who is the peace, ease, rest, repose and happy life of man (England, secret press, 1623) STC 7072.7, sig. A 11'. 85C . A., trans., Holy Pictures of the mysticall figures of the most holy Sacrifice Sacrament of the Eucharist (England, secret press, 1619), STC 21022, sig. 3". The English translation of the text is actually lacking the `holy pictures. ' The printer explained to the reader that the stamps were so defective in the original, that the French printer had to include a note of apology to the reader. Their condition was worse still having been `over worn from a second edition, ' so much so that the printer of this edition decided that they were not worth purchasing. But he is unrepentant since he believes that the descriptions themselves, which were meant to accompany the images `are so glorious, so lively, and so complete, as there is no need of the pictures: which therefore though easily perceived to be missing, can no way be thought wanting by any judicious reader; especially considering, that such descriptions are made to supply the want of those painted tables which they describe; as pictures again were invented to supply the office of descriptions. ' Sig. B V. 86H eigham, An instruction how to pray and meditate well, sig. H5"--H6`. 63 The vast array of devotional books that were made available simply reflected that vast array of devotional tastes and dispositions that were possessedb y English Catholic readers. The texts themselves, again, tell us a good deal about the people who read them. We know this for certain: there was a large audience who required brief and uncomplicated texts to support their devotional lives. Prayer required time and devotional practices competed with the other duties and commitments that occupied the lives of busy readers. Authors and translators were eager to capture - or at least not to lose - this audience as well. The titles they chose for some of their works advertised to those readers that the book now in their hands contained devotions that could be easily incorporated into a day full of varied occupations and familial obligations: A Brief directoly and plain wa, try the rosary; 87A Brief method or way teaching all sorts of Christian people, how to serve God in a most perfect manner;8 8A brief and profitable exercise of the seven principal effusions of the precious blood of our... Saviour Jesus;8 9B rief meditations for the seven evenings and mornings of the week; 90A short rule, how to live well; 91 A short rule of good life; 92A short discourse on the torments of hell, 93 87J ohn Mitchell, A Brief directory and plain way to say the rosary (England, secret press, 1576), STC 17136. 88I . M., A Brief method or way teaching all sorts of Christian people, how to serve God in a most perfect manner (England, secret press, 1602?) , STC 535.5. 89H eigham, A brief and profitable exercise of the seven principal effusions of the precious blood of our... Saviour Jesus (Douai, 1640), STC 14568. 90J ohn Fen, trans., Brief meditations for the sevene venings and mornings of the week (Rouen, 1613), STC 16647. The title of the main work is Instructions and advertisementsh ow to meditate the mysteries of the rosary of the most holy virgin Marv... Whereunto is annexedb rief meditations. 91T homas Everard, trans., A short rule, how to live well (St Omer, 1620), STC 11315. 92R obert Southwell, A short rule of good life. To direct the devout Christian in a regular and orderly course (England, secret press, 1596-1597), STC 22968.5. There is also a `ghost' which bears this title, by the Benedictine Clement Reyner, printed in 1624 at the Douai press of Laurence Kellam (not in STC. ARCR II, 676). 93T his appears as an appendix of Thomas Everard's translation of Cardinal Bellarmine's Of the eternal felicity of the saints (St Omer, 1638), STC 1841. 64 these and the many other `brief and `short' texts appealed to men and women who sincerely desired a fuller spiritual life, but who lived in a world which offered little leisure for time-consuming devotions. And so the editor of the Psalter of St Jerome advised his reader to use what time was set aside for devotions well: `If thy worldly business suffer thee not to spend much time in prayer, thou mayest notwithstanding have wherewithal to occupy thyself aptly that little time thou hast permitted thee.' 94 When the Franciscan Arthur Bell set out to foster devotion to St Francis through promotion of the confraternity that was founded for that purpose, he realised that a new work was required to suit the audience he had in mind. To this end he wrote A short declaration of the Arch-confraternity of the cord of St Francis, a text of only 55 pages: ̀ Although heretofore there have been divers great books and large discourses written concerning the Arch-confraternity of S. Francis, yet very many simple and good people have complained for want of time to read over such volumes and learned discourses.' 95 Those who desired lengthy treatises on the spiritual life would be disappointed with the text translated by I. M. who was pleased to report that `This author leaveth the large & godly discourses of virtues and vices, their reasons, examples, persuasions, & all points of Meditations. (as all being sufficiently taught and handled, by others innumerable and to be found everywhere) and briefly touching the end for which God created and placed us 94A non., The Psalter of St Jerome (Antwerp, 1576), STC 14506. sig. A V. 95A rthur Bell, A short declaration of the Arch-confraternity of the cord of St Francis (Brussels, 1630), STC 11314, sig. A2` 65 on earth what bound and duty we have of serving him. ' 96G aspare Loarte appreciated that time was one of the resources that people desirous of practising devotion often lacked. `Concerning the necessity of many men, ' he wrote, `who having good will, have not for all that the capacity, or means, to seek out and read such books as treat of the exercises which every good Christian ought to occupy himself in; I have for this cause thought good to gather in this short treatise the principal exercises which every good Christian is bound to use.' 97 It was `the finesse of the method' and the `eloquency of the tongue' that first attracted the translator of The golden Treatise of the ancient and learned Vincentius Lirinensis to the text. `But, ' he tells his reader, ̀ the last motive which encouraged me to this labour, and ought partly to move thee to the reading of it, is the brevity of the work, ' and he promises `if long and large volumes do little please, this is short and cannot cause dislike. '98 P. R., the translator of The art to die well. Or a brief and easy method, how to direct ones life, to a secure and happy end possessede nough commercial senset o realise there was a decent market for compact works of pithy piety: `Leaving out many of his chapters, which albeit were excellent good of themselves, yet I held them not so necessaryf or my intended purpose to procure more customers to read a little, who might be tried to read twice as much. '99 Thomas Wright, in his The disposition or garnishment of the soul reveals that he too 96I . M., A brief method or way teaching all sorts of Christian people, how to serve God in a most perfect manner. Written first in Spanish,b y a religious man, named Alphonso. And reduced out of Latin into English (England, secretp ress, 1602-1605), STC 535.5, sig. A3r. 97S tephen Brinkley, trans., The exercise of a Christian life (England, secret press, 1579), STC 16641.5, sig. ++iiii. 98A . P., trans., The golden treatise of the ancient and learned Vincentius Lirinensis (England, secret press, 1596-1597), STC 24748, sig. A7`. It is a text of 110 pages, indeed very short for this genre. 99P . R., The art to die well, sig. A3'. 66 was aware of the demands of the devotional market and offers a time-saving method to his busy reader: `Moreover, for that mine intention in setting forth this discourse was to help good Catholics to communicate devoutly and religiously, therefore lest the length of the book should terrify them and bring loathsomeness (as though every time they communicate, it were necessary to transcourse the whole treatise) I have at the end drawn a table where in one prospect, who hath read it once over may call to memory those heads and points that are requisite. ' 100A nd Thomas Everard concludes that `the frailty of our perverted nature, that liketh not to read large discourses, be they never so profitable, but contenting ourselves rather with brevity, though the sayings and sentencesf or variety be never so solid, good, & holy. ' 101W hen Thomas Hawkins dedicated his Christian Diurnal to Viscountess Savage he knew that a compact treatise would appeal even to such a pious soul as hers. He realised that many books already existed that were perfectly adequate `to entertain your pious retirements, in the sweet solitude of meditation. ' But this book held an appeal that so many of the genre lacked: Yet may I boldly say, this manual of devotion hath somewhat new, and attractive in it, to add increase of fervour to your best progressions....C ongested rules and multitude of precepts which only augment the bulk of books, and little edify, or inform the mind, are here purposely avoided. Short acts of devotion, and pious aspirations more penetrate and being (as in this Diurnal) put into method, win upon the drowsy soul and open the heart more awakened thoughts of salvation. ' 02 Catechisms 100T homas Wright, The disposition and garnishmento f the soul to receive worthily the blessed sacrament( England, secret press, 1596), STC 18335. 101E verard, Meditations upon the mysteries of our faith, sig.* 4'. This abridged version of the Compendio de las meditaciones del Padre Luis de la Puentec ontains 679 pages. 67 Simple, uncomplicated books of devotion and religious instruction were intellectually accessible to the widest audience and were naturally enough produced in great number. The first such book to be produced for an English Catholic readership after the Settlement of 1559 was Laurence Vaux's A catechism or Christian doctrine necessaryf or children and ignorant people. 103 It is fitting, therefore, to examine the text that was produced specifically for the children of English Catholic exiles. 104 As we discuss this sub-genre of devotional literature it is necessary to recognise at the outset that a catechism is different from other forms of the genre. Unlike the books designed to be pondered daily, read and re-read in the time set aside for that purpose, the catechism was intended for those who could not read. Those who were meant to benefit from the text were the `unlearned,' the `simpler sort' who may have been as unfamiliar with the alphabet and numerals that so often occupied folio Al verso as the 102T homas Hawkins, trans., The Christian Diurnal (Paris, 1632), STC 4871, sig., Alr-A4r. 'o3Vaux, A catechism or Christian doctrine necessary for children and ignorant people, briefly compiled by Laurence Vaux bachelor of divinity: with an other later addition of instruction of the laudable ceremonies used in the Catholic church (imprint unknown, 1568) STC 24625.5. There is only one extant copy of this first edition. The eight editions which followed testify to the enormous popularity of the book. The printer of the 1583 edition (it was produced at Fr Person's press in Rouen) tells the reader: `Often times I have heard many devout Christians complain of the scarcity and want of this catechism,... and have heard also many commend the same, as to be a book whereof they themselves & others have reaped much benefit. ' STC 24626.7, sig. A1r. Laurence Vaux came from an old Lancastrian family. He was educated at Manchester Grammar School, and at Queen's and Corpus Christi, Oxford. He eventually became warden of the collegiate church at Manchester, the position which was indicated on the title page to the Catechism. With the Act of Uniformity he left the college, taking with him its muniments. Eventually he was at Louvain where he founded a school for exiles' children, for whom he wrote the present book. In 1572 he made his profession as an Augustinian canon at the monastery in Louvain. In 1580 he went to England but was quickly arrested and imprisoned at the Gatehouse and then at the Clink where, in 1585, he died of starvation. GILLOW, vol. 5, p. 565. For a more detailed account of Vaux's life see T. G. Law's introduction to his critical edition of the text. (Manchester, 1885). 104Att imes, however the book does reveal an element of polemics, as when the catechism asks `Who breaketh the first commandment by denying their faith, ' and responds `They that will not confess the Catholic faith with their mouths, although they believe it in their hearts for a 68 commandments and precepts that were to follow in the pages of a catechism (Figure 2.4). Richard Haddock's translation of Cardinal Bellarmine's An ample declaration of the Christian doctrine reminds us that the catechism as a text was beyond the reach of much of the audience for whom it was designed. 105 In this case it was designed `for the use of those that teach children and other unlearned persons,' and not for the children themselves.1 06 A. C. Southern, in his important work Elizabethan Recusant Prose, included Vaux's Catechism in his discussion of apologetical texts, but it is classified here, as are other English Catholic catechisms of the period, as a devotional book. 107V aux was a recusant, an exile for his faith and a missionary, but he was not an apologist. To be sure, there are traces of the polemical scattered throughout the text, and for catechisms this was not an unusual occurrence.1 08C atechisms, by their nature, explain the faith and teach it to the uninitiated, and to a degree they can be said to defend the faith they teach.1 09B ut the books that contained prayers and commandments and that Christian man ought to be of such constancy, that he should rather suffer his life to be taken from him, than his faith. ' STC 24627a. 2, sig. C6"-C9". 105T he uneducated were the intended audience for a number of texts apart from catechisms, like, as we have seen above, John Bucke's Instruction for the use of the Beads containing many matters of meditation or mental prayer, with divers good advices and ghostly counsel (Louvain, 1589), STC 4000. 106R ichard Haddock, trans., An ample declaration of the Christian doctrine (Douai, 1604) STC 1835, sig. A V. 107V aux was responsible only for the Catechism and the `instruction newly added of the laudable ceremonies used in the Catholic church' which accompanied editions from 1574. Other additions, which were certainly of a controversial character, were added by printers and publishers. These include the `Whereunto are adjoined certain brief notes of divers godly matters' of the one 1583 edition, (STC 24626.7) and the `Whereunto is adjoined a brief form of Confession (necessary to all good Christians) according to the use of the Catholic Church' of the other edition printed in that year (STC 24627). 108S ee Chapter 4a discussion of this. 109T his is particularly the case with the Roman Catechism, commissioned by the Fathers of the Council of Trent and completed in 1566. This text was intended to combat heresy and offer Catholics a definitive presentation of the faith. It was primarily designed for parish priests as a Figure 2.4 In Godly contemplations for the unlearned (Antwerp, 1575) seventy-two woodcuts help to explain the faith to those unable to read. Catechisms provided the foundations of Catholic devotion with the "Our Father" and "Hail Mary. " 69 gave detailed explanations of the same, were certainly intended both to bolster the faith and to aid the devotional life of the individual. Rare, specific references to Protestants or oblique allusions to church-papists are not compelling reasons to classify this work or others like it as ̀ apologetical. ' 110 T. G. Law, the editor of a critical edition of the 1583 issue of the catechism, considers it strange that Vaux could produce a work like this, intended for English students, without referring to the peculiar circumstances of English Catholics, and which bears no trace of the anomalous position of the Roman Church in England at the time of its composition - no trace of any design on the part of its author to adapt his instructions to the manual of instruction, which explains the appearance of the Latin-English edition produced by the Franciscan James Miles: Brevis Catechismus pro Hereticis Anglicis, Scotis, & aliis ad Fidem Captolicam [sic? ]. & Apostolicam reductis. Ex Romano Cathechismo Latino in Anglicum idioma confectus (Naples, 1635) [The preliminaries are in Latin. The text is Latin on the verso with the English translation on the recto. ] Dedicated to `D. Antonio Ricciullo' christianam charitatem, quae to urget Illustrissime, ac Reverendissime Domine, & qua in officio Generalis ministeri sancti officii in hac Civitate, & Regno Neapolisquam diligentissime & sancte uteris, ex eo qui (ut Haeretici Angli, & alii qui ad dictum Regnum & Civitatem, viris ex occasionibus appulerint, Cathechizati (abiuratis eorum haeresibus& erroribus) fauente Deo, ad Verram & sanctam Matrem ecclesiam Catholicam, & Apostolicam convertantur, & permaneant) facturo per brevem Cathechismum mihi lingua Anglican nostrae imposuisti; in promtu patefacis, & manifestas; per quem & ipsi, quaer ite credere & operari debeant instructi & edocti ordinate, ac sancte perseverantes in fide Catholica, sperare a largissimo largitore Deo possint vitam Xternam: Quam Cathechismum cum descripserim & (declaratorio mod usus tantum) ex latino in Anglicum idioma, convertissem, Typis demandandum, & tuw' (STC 17920.5 sig. Arr-A3r). The unique copy of this book is in the British Library. 10 The church-papist might have identified himself or herself in the following text: `Who breaketh the first commandment by denying their faith? ...T hey that will not confess the Catholic faith with their mouths, although they believe it in their hearts for a Christian man ought to be of such constancy, that he should rather suffer his life to be taken from him, than his faith. ' [Laurence Vaux, A catechism or Christian doctrine (Engalnd, secret press, 1599), STC 24627a. 2, sig. C6"-C9"]. `Why is the Church called one? Because thereby are excluded all congregations of the malignant church, which are divided into sundry schisms, sects, and opinions and doctrines, as the Lutheran church doth not agree with he Zwinglians, nor the Zwinglians with the Anabaptists. &c. ' Ibid, sig. B6'-v. The issue becomes even more complicated, however, when we consider a catechism whose primary purpose was to correct errors and to vilify Protestants. Such is the case with Thomas Worthington's An anchor of Christian doctrine. Wherein the most principal points of Catholic religion are proved by the only written word of God. The first part of the work appeared in 1618. When the three parts were added by 1622 it had grown 1277 pages. It is an attempt to prove the doctrine of the Catholic faith only with evidence taken from scripture, `to satisfy all such as... s uppose that we prefer any other authority above the holy Scripture. ' STC 26000.2 (part 2) sig. t 2'. Worthington's purely polemical intention disqualified the work from consideration here. 70 exceptional needs of his countrymen in general.... The absence of all reference to the strained condition of the fait hful - cut off from their bishops, their parish priests, and much of their sacraments and ritual - or to the perplexities of conscience, necessarily arising from an habitual conflict between the demands of their church and the laws of the state, is indeed somewhat remarkable. ' 11 But it is hardly remarkable that children and those who had only a rudimentary understanding of the faith should not need to be exposed, at least in this text, to either argument or apology. Indeed, we should not be surprised to find no reference in the catechism to the political situation from which it emerged, that is from a persecuted religious community. It was, after all, a book initially intended for a particular audience and one that was unlikely to benefit much from lengthy discussions on the role of authority, justification, the number and nature of the sacramentso r other topics so often visited by the controversialists of the period. Promotion of fidelity to the faith was naturally a central objective of Vaux's Catechism - as it was of every example of the genre - but it also educated the reader in the prayers and devotions that were used by Catholics to enliven their faith. Vaux's presentation of the Lord's Prayer is just one example of material set before the reader that could lead him or her not only to a deeper understanding of the faith, but to a more profound appreciation of the spiritual benefits that prayers could offer: What meaneth the beginning of this prayer? Our Father which art in heaven? It is a preface, which putteth us in remembrance of an high and singular benefit, that Christ our saviour hath obtained through his merits: whereby God the Father is content "' T. G. Law, ed. A catechism or Christian Doctrine by Laurence Vaux, B. D. (Manchester, 1885), pp. xciii-xciv. 71 to receive and take us as his children and heirs by adoption. And by this sweet name of the father, we are provoked and allured, both to love him again, and also to trust. 112 pray with great Vaux explains to his reader the motivation for compiling the catechism. He recalled, he says, the seventh canon of the second Lateran council, `wherein schoolmasters are straightly charged, upon Sundays and holy days to instruct and teach their scholars Christian doctrine, appertaining to religion and good manners, as the articles of faith, the commandments of God and such like. ' He had observed in his exile how this canon had been faithfully observed in Louvain, especially, and realised the extent of his own neglect in this regard. Moreover, he had received a request from a fellow Englishman `A grave Godly man' to put in writing an instruction on the faith suitable for the `simple and ignorant. ' 113 Like so many other works of the period, the catechism was first used in manuscript form, and Vaux was hesitant to have his catechism put in print lest, he says, ̀ it should come to the hands of such learned men, as would look for finesse of sentence, and eloquence of words, which are lacking in me: by means whereof in the end I feared, least my good will and diligent labour should redound to my rebuke and reproach.' 114I ndeed, the popularity of the book was probably very much due to its lack of finesse and `eloquence of words. ' It is, for the most part, a simple and compact work, a straightforward presentation of the Catholic faith, and like other books of the genre, intended for the `simpler sort' of reader: `God sent them ears to hear which shall learn "Z Ibid, p. 19. "' Laurence Vaux, A catechism or Christian doctrine (1599), sig. A3T-A4". 72 it, and them that need not learn it, becauset hey know it, to take it quietly when they read it, knowing that I have made it for the simple, and ignorant, and not for the fine fellows and learned.' 115 Laurence Vaux's catechism was hugely successful.' 16F irst produced in 1567, the oldest extant edition of Vaux's Catechism emerged from the press of John Fowler in 1568, and was to be followed by at least another eight editions by 1620. By 1583 there were rumblings from the Catholic community complaining `of the scarcity and want of this Catechism.' 117 It was the scarcity of Vaux's book, in fact, that was one reason why a certain T. I. produced another catechism in 1578 or 1579, a translation of Peter Canisius' famous work, rendered in English Certain necessary principals of religion, which may be entitled, A catechism containing all the parts of the Christian and Catholic faith. Written in Latin by P. Canisius, one of the holy society of the Jesuits, and now amplified and Englished by T. I: When I saw we had good plenty of Latin books that handled all points of religion very well: and yet there was such scarcity of English books, that we had none except M. Vauces catechism, that briefly compiled the principal parts of our Christian and Catholic faith. Because M. Vauces book was somewhat rare, 14 Ibid, sig A3`. 115Ib id, sig. A3r-A4". 116O n the sheet which records the examination of the recusant John Nutter we find `A note of such things as remain in divers pack of Peter Lowson. In primis in the first pack iffierC Catechisms. Item in another pack one C Catechisms and certain other books. ' J. H. Pollen, Unpublished documents relating to the English martyrs (London, 1908), p. 38; Southern. English Recusant Prose, p. 37-38; Rostenburg, The minority Press and the English Crown, p. 35. 117T he printer of that edition tells the reader that he initially hesitated in bringing forth the book, hoping to print instead `some more ample discourse: and such as might serve the turns of all as well learned and unlearned. But when I made some good men privy to this my purpose & expectation, it was answered, that for an uncertain commodity to lose a certain, such a case were neither wisdom nor piety: for though it might be that some learned man would hereafter enlarge this argument, and put it forth: yet it is uncertain when that will be: & when it cometh, it may perhaps not so aptly serve for young scholars and the unlearned (to whose use this short and compendious pamphlet was by the author hereof first meant and pretended). Vaux, A catechism or Christian doctrine (1599), sig, A2`-" 73 and of some well disposed persons not thought so fit for the capacity of little ones and younglings who are to be trained up after the plainest and readiest way, I thought this pamphlet would not be unfit for them both. ' 18 The text bears a remarkable resemblance to Vaux's catechism, so much so, in fact, that the Jesuit bibliographer Carlos Sommervogel, in his monumental work Biblioteque de la Compagnie de Jesus records the earliest edition of Vaux's A catechism or a Christian doctrine as an English translation of Canisius' 119 catechism. Like the Jesuit, Vaux divides his catechism into three sections based on the three theological virtues: faith, hope, and charity. Faithful to the genre which instructs the reader by means of a dialogue rather than by a simple exposition of the faith, the text is composed of a series of questions and answers: ̀ What meaneth the seventh article [of the creed]? From thence shall come to judge the quick and the dead? We must believe that Christ our Lord at the day of judgement in man's form like he did ascend, so he shall come down from heaven, to receive the good people to eternal joy, and to judge the bad people to perpetual pain. 020 Additionally, the catechism contains long commentaries on the commandments and the precepts of the church as well as expositions on other obligatory elements of the genre, like the five sensesa nd the seven sacraments. In the latter case however, when treating of the sacraments, he goes into much 118T . I., trans., Certain necessary principals of religion, which may be entitled, A catechism containing all the parts of the Christian and Catholic faith. Written in Latin by P. Canisius one of the holocsiety of the Jesuits, and now amplified and Englished by T_I (England, secret press, 1578-1579), STC 4568.5, sig, ¶vir. 119C arlos Sommervogel, S.J ., Biblioteque de la Compagnie de Jesus (Brussels, 1890), vol. 2, column 630. 120V aux, A catechism or Christian doctrine (1599), sig. B5". 74 greater detail than was his custom, defining the form and matter of each sacrament as well as the obligations for sacramental validity. Perhaps it was Vaux's departure into the language of scholastic theology - `matter, ' `form' and `efficient causes' - that prompted T. I. to consider the work to be `not thought so fit for the capacity of little ones and younglings who are to be trained up after the plainest and readiest way. ' 121T he two works are, however, remarkably similar: Vaux: What is faith? Faith is the gift of T. I: What is faith? It is the gift of God God and light whereby we be lightened and a certain light wherewith whosoever is within, and assuredly be induced to believe illuminated, he formally agreeth to all such all things that be revealed in Christ's things as God hath revealed & set forth by church to us, either by word written or his church to be learned of us, whether unwritten. ' 122 written or unwritten. ' 128 Vaux: Whom do ye call a Christian T. I.: Who ought to be called a Catholic or Catholic man? Him that receiveth the Christian man? He that hath received the sacrament of Baptism, whereby he is made sacrament of Baptism, is a professor of the a member of the Catholic church, and doth healthful doctrine of Jesus Christ in his profess in heart, word, and deed, the Church, who is perfect God and perfect wholesome doctrine of Jesus Christ, and of man: so that in no case he will be the Catholic church, and doth not consent, withdrawn by any sect or opinion which is nor agree to any strange sects or opinions, contrary to the determination of the that the Catholic church doth disallow or Catholic church. ' 129 condemn'. 123 Vaux: What is the Church? The Church is T. I.: What is the Church? It is the a visible company of people first gathered congregation of all such as are professors together of Christ and his dis ,c iples, of Christ his faith and doctrine, which is continued unto this day in a perpetual guided under one who next under Christ is succession, in one Apostolic faith, living here in earth their chiefest head 130 and under Christ the head, and in earth, under pastor. ' his Vicar, Pastor, and chief bishop. ' 124 12` T. I, Certain necessary principals of religion, sig, ¶vi`. 122V aux, A catechism or Christian doctrine, (1599), sig, Biiir. 123Ib id, sig, Bir. 124Ib id, sig. Bvi`. 125Ib id, sig. Bix`. 126Ib id, sig. Bix". 127 Ibid, sig. ix"-x`. 128T.I , Certain necessary principals of religion, sig. Ai"-Aii`. Canisius gives a similar definition in his longer work Opus catechisticum sive summa doctrina Christianae which was anonymously translated for a Scottish readership in 1588: `Faithe is a gifte of God and a lycht, 75 Vaux: Who be alienated and utterly T. I.: Who are severed from the Church? separatedf rom the church of Christ? The First all Jews and infidels, and renegades Jews and infidels, and they that by apostasy from the faith: then heretics, that is such forsake their faith. And heretics, which that when they are baptised stubbornly although they be christened, yet obstinately maintain erroneous opinions, contrary to defend error against the Catholic faith, the Catholic church. Besides these, moreover schismatics, which separate schismatics, who exclude themselves from themselves from peace and Catholic unity: peace and Catholic unity. Lastly, such as also they that be lawfully are by power ecclesiastical lawfully cut off excommunicated. ' 125 from the communion of saints...w hereupon they are called excommunicated. ' 131 Vaux: What is hope? Hope is a virtue T. I.: What is hope? Hope is given us from given from God above, whereby we look God whereby with an assured trust we look for the goodness of our salvation and for the joys of our salvation and everlasting everlasting life with a sure trust. ' 126 life. ' 132 Vaux: Whereof may we learn the right T. I: From whence learn we the way to manner to trust and ask necessities of God? have a good hope and to ask things at Of our Pater Noster, which our Lord and God's hands as we should do? Of our Master with his own mouth, hath taught Lord's prayer (our Lord and master) and appointed us to learn. ' 127 himself appointed and taught us by his own mouth. ' 133 T. I's catechism went through only a single printing. 134I t almost certainly would have enjoyed greater successh ad it not been for the thousands quhairbe man being illuminat, assentisf ermlie, and constantlie embracest heyis thingis quhilkis ar revelit by God, and sett furthe to us be the kirk, to belive it. ' Anon., trans., Ane cathechisme or short instruction of Christian religion drawen out of the scripturs and ancient doctours (Paris, 1588), STC 4568, sig, Aiir. 129T . 1, Certain necessary principals of religion, sig. Ai`-" 130Ib id, sig, Bir-". Canisius is satisfied with this reply, but in the same place Vaux is compelled to ask several additional questions: Why is the church called Holy? Why is the church called Catholic? Why is the Church called Apostolic? 131Ib id, sig. Bii"-Biiir. 132Ib id, sig. Biiir. 133Ib id, sig. Biii". 134O nly two extant copies have been identified. 76 of copies of Vaux's very similar - and already famous - text circulating among English Catholics in England and on the continent. 135 Catechisms were designed to provide the reader with an orthodox exposition of the faith and with traditional prayers and devotions; there was little room for creativity or innovation when it came to instructing the faithful in commandments, sacramentsa nd precepts. The number of catechisms produced in the period of this study, however, demonstrates both a desire among English Catholics to learn the fundamentals of the Catholic faith, and desire for that faith to be explained in different ways. By 1597, when Henry Garnet produced his translation of the Jesuit Jacobus Ledisma's Dottrina christiana, to which he gave the English title The Christian Doctrine in manner of dialogue between the master and the disciple.. .f or the use of Children and other unlearned Catholics, there were already catechisms available to the English exile community or those Catholics who remained in England and who were willing to take the risk to obtain one. 136T he reason for Garnet's translation is not, therefore, entirely obvious. Catechesis was essential, but was it essential to produce new 135W hen Vaux was examined by the bishop of London after his arrest, Aylmer asked him what relation he was `to that Vaux who wrote a Popish Catechism in English. ' T. G. Law, ed. A catechism or Christian Doctrine by Laurence Vaux, B. D., p. xlviii. The book was certainly well-known in 1584: those who had searched the home of Sir Thomas Tresham reported that they had discovered `Vaux's catechism... a painted crucifix upon orange colour satin; a picture of Christ upon canvas, ' and other objects of Catholic devotion. Foley, Records of the En lish Province of the Society of Jesus, vol. 6, p. 717. _ 136H enry Garnet, trans., The Christian Doctrine in manner of dialogue between the master and the disciple... for the use of Children and other (England, secret press, 1597) STC 15353. He also translated Canisius' Summa doctrinae christianae between 1592-1596: `I caused Canisius Summa to be translated, and added some supplements. ' A. F. Allison, `The writings of Fr Henry Garnet, S. J., (1555-1606), ' RH, 1 (1955), p. 10. Catechisms, like other books which promoted Catholicism, were considered a serious threat to the precarious religious situation in England and were confiscated when they were found. Both Vaux's catechism and T. I. 's translation are included in William Fulke's A catalogue of all such Popish books either answered, or to be answered, which have been written in the Enalish ngue from beyond seas 77 catechisms rather than re-print those whose successa nd popularity had been well demonstrated? The best explanation for the production of a new catechism is that Garnet believed that he was providing the readership with something new, something that might appeal to a different audience, or even to those who may already have possesseda copy of Vaux's definitive A catechism or a Christian doctrine but who were nonetheless interested in an original presentation of the faith. The catechisms of this period contain the fundamental doctrines of the Catholic faith: the commandments, the creed, the precepts of the church, the Ave Maria, the Pater Noster, the precepts of the church and the virtues - theological, corporal, and spiritual. The contents of a catechism are, by the nature of the genre, predictable. Again it was variation rather than duplication that Fr Garnet hoped would attract the attention of the potential reader. There were added extras found in his book and not found in Vaux's work, such as the alphabet in lower and upper case, in Roman and Italic type and Roman and Arabic numerals, reminiscent of the older catechisms, the 'ABCs' that had been and still were a common feature of religious education in England. Garnet's catechism, unlike Vaux's, employs two characters frequently found in other examples of the genre: the Master and the Disciple, whom he examines on matters of faith: M. Are you a Christian? D. Yea, by the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. M. What is a Christian? or secretly dispersed here in England have come into our hands, since the beginning of the Queen's Majesty's reign. Southern, Elizabethan Recusant Prose, p. 537. 78 D. The disciple of Christ: that is he which having been baptised believeth and maketh open profession of his law. ' 137 Like the other two catechisms, this one is divided into sections based on the three theological virtues, but to this work is added a forth section, `good works' which this author has included as an additional requirement of a Christian, and which allows for an exposition of the ten commandments. The popular model of the dialogue between a master and his disciple' 38 was also employed by the Jesuit Cardinal Bellarmine in his Dicharazione piü copiosa della dottrina cristiana translated by Richard Haddock around 1603, the year in which the approbation was issued.1 39B ut in An ample declaration of the Christian doctrine the roles are reversed; the scholar asks the question and it is up to the Master to explain the central elements of the Catholic faith: Scholar: `How many be the principal and most necessaryp arts of this doctrine? ' Master: `Four, to wit the Creed, the Pater Noster, the ten commandments, and the holy sacraments.' 140 Ten years after the publication of An ample declaration of the Christian Doctrine the Jesuit Richard Gibbons translated Robert Bellarmine's Dottrina cristiana breve which was an abridgement of the cardinal's Dicharazione piü copiosa della dottrina cristiana, calling it A short Catechism...i llustrated with the images (Figure 2.5). It is a text in many respects similar to Ledisma's 137H enry Garnet, trans., The Christian Doctrine in manner of dialogue between the master and the disciple... for the use of Children and other (England, secret press, 1597), STC 15353, sig Aiir. 138F or the use of the dialogue as a catechetical device, see Ian Green, The Christian's ABC: Catechismsa nd Catechising in England c. 1530-1740, (Oxford, p. 1996), p. 16 ff. 139R ichard Haddock, trans., An ample declaration of the Christian doctrine (Douai, 1604), STC 1835, sig. Ir[V. 140Ib id, sig. Al". y Figure 2.5 The title page of Cardinal Bellarmine's Short Catechism (Augsburg 1614). The same blocks were used in several other translations. 79 catechism and like it takes the form of a dialogue between a master and a scholar: M. Are you a Christian? S. I am by the grace of God M. What mean you by a Christian? S. Him that maketh the profession of the faith and law of Christ. 141 This book, however, had an added attraction for the discriminating book- buyer. It incorporates illustrations that were included to assist the reader further in understanding the mysteries of the faith (Figure 2.6). 142T he presence of the illustrations, very often accompanied by only a line or two of text, demonstratest he type of audience for whom the book was designed. Children and the unlearned could benefit from simple and uncomplicated depictions of credal formulae that were oftentimes anything but simple and uncomplicated. In 1637 the Paris press of the widow of Jerome Blageart produced A catechism of Christian doctrine. 143T he translator, Thomas White, does not reveal the identity of the author, only commenting that `The author's name alone (would he take it well to have it here mentioned) were enough to justify thus much: who for profoundness of science and consumatenessi n all parts of literature, both divine and human, is the honour of our times.. .T he composition of this was but an entertainment of divertissement to him in a time when he had strong and solicitous thoughts of others: which so fully possessedh im, as 141R ichard Gibbons, trans., A short Catechism... illustrated with the images (Augsburg, 1614), STC 1843. 142A nother edition of the book was prepared in 1633 with the title A short Christian doctrine composed by R. Father Robert Bellarmine of the Society of Jesus and Cardinal (St Omer). This edition was not `illustrated with the images. ' STC 1844. 143T homas White, trans., A catechism of Christian doctrine (Paris, 1637), STC 25403.5. Doc. - Bý R Figure 2.6 The exposition of the Creed in Richard Gibbons' translation of Cardinal Bellarmine's A short Catechism... illustrated with the images (Augsburg 1614) 80 he would have even his recreations contribute to that end. ' 144 The anonymous author had successfully composed it, White tells the reader, for the unlearned who had `with delight applied themselves to learn the weightiest abstusest [sic] points of what Christians are bound to believe. ' Its appeal, however, extended beyond the interests of the simple sort since even `the most versed in theological speculations, found matter to busy their most vigorous thoughts upon. ' 145T he text is divided into fifteen conferences following the familiar paradigm of a dialogue between a Master and his Scholar. Catechisms of this sort, unlike some other forms of devotional literature, do not usually provide instructions for their use, and it might correctly be assumedt hat these texts could be studied alone by the individual reader, as he or she might read and study any other devotional book. White's translation, however, presents us with a different picture and offers an insight as to how his catechism, and perhaps the others mentioned here, were intended to be used. At the end of each conference the author provides rubrics for further instruction: `Here the catechist ought to exhort the Catechumen to the admiration and reverence of God, out of his plenitude and perfection. To the fear of God, out of his omniscience and omnipotence. And to the love of him, out of all his goodness.' So catechisms were not like other devotional books which the reader pondered alone in the time he or she devoted to spiritual instruction. Instead we can picture the catechist actually posing the questions to the catechumen, 144Ib id, sig. Ai"-Aiii". 145I bid, sig. Aivr-v. 81 who would have memorised the correct answers - with greater or lesser success- before he or she met with the instructor. 146 The didactic nature of the catechism does not make it radically different from other forms of devotional literature. As we will see, many of these texts were, like the catechism, books of instruction. They taught the reader how to meditate, what to pray for and when to do it. The catechism, which instructed the reader - or perhaps more often the listener - in the fundamentals of the faith, laid the foundation for any further development in the spiritual life: the creed, the ten commandments, the Pater and the Ave, the `prayer before the meat,' the seven capital sins and their corresponding virtues, tutelage in these was required before the reader could advance to the loftier levels of Catholic devotion. When he or she was ready, there were books in abundance to satisfy the appetites of the Catholic readers eager to advance in the spiritual life. Manuals and Primers The catechisms instructed the individual in the most basic forms of Catholic devotion, teaching how to bless one's self, how to recite the Pater and Ave, how to make acts of contrition, hope, and faith. Other books provided the reader with an abundant source of available prayers and devotions. Among these was the ever-popular Manual of prayers gathered out of many and divers 146U nlike other dialogue catechisms which have either the scholar giving correct answers to his master or the master always providing the orthodox response to his disciple, the scholar here is - if not incorrect in his response - then very often incomplete or uncertain, providing the master with the opportunity either to require more information from his student, or to provide the correct answer himself. 82 famous authors as well ancient as of the time present. Reduced into 13. chap. very commodious and profitable for a devout Christian. The origins of the Manual are to be found in a Latin prayer book compiled by Simon Verepaeus which he called Precationes Liturgicea in Dies Septem Digestae.1 47T he editor of the first edition identifies himself only as G. F. This was George Hinton, the `very pious and zealous merchant' who had assisted Stephen Brinkley in the operation of Fr Robert Persons' press in Rouen. 148I n his preface he informs the reader of `the causest hat moved me to the collection and translation of this manual. ' Chief among these was the decline of religious fervour that had afflicted English Catholics for decades: `devotion is so decayed,' he tells the reader, ̀ that the learned themselves have need of helps for to attain thereunto. ' And he continues, warning those who would pick up his little manual that it was no substitution for the official prayers promulgated by the church: `yet is it not my mind that any man should so tie himself to any devout prayer or to any number of prayers here collected that thereby he should omit the accostomable public prayers of the holy mother Catholic Church, as hereafter more at large I have noted. ' Perhaps it was the urgent need for such texts that required him to apologise: `Further good Christian reader I am to let thee understand that this little manual hath been collected and translated in great haste, and upon earnest request of divers 147J M. Blom, The Post-Tridentine English Primer (London, 1982), p. 114. Blom gives a full account of the history of the Manual and its relationship to the popular Primer. 148J H. Pollen, The Memoirs of Father Robert Persons (London, 1907), p. 31 and John Morris, The Troubles of our Catholic Forefathers Related by Themselves, second series, (London, 1875), p. 37. See Chapter 5 for a discussion of this press. 83 Godly and virtuous Catholics: yet not without the judgement of some number of the learned.' 149 The twenty-nine editions of the Manual produced between 1583-1640 vary considerably in their content and composition, but the various editions typically contain the following elements: a liturgical calendar; 15° ̀The sum of the Christian Catholic faith'; 151th e prayers for various occasions and occupations `for both day and night'; 152a nd the Jesus Psalter.1 53 The Manual belongs to that type of pious literature that provides prayers for each day of the week -a quotidian devotional book, more like a tool or appliance of devotion than a text that contains devotional material to be pondered only periodically. As the title indicates, the Manual is made up of thirteen chapters to be covered in the course of the week and lays out for the reader how this is to be accomplished: Read upon Sunday these chapters: 10 prayers to the Holy Trinity; 8 of thanksgiving to God for his benefices. Monday 11. To the B. V. Marie and to the holy Saints; 3. for obtaining the remission of sins. Tuesday 4. for aid and comfort in tribulations and afflictions; 5. for obtaining of God necessaries for body and soul. Wednesday 9. for the Church, our friends and others; for the departed souls Thursday 5 for obtaining of 149G eorge Flinton, ed., A manual of prayers newly gathered out of many and divers famous authors as well ancient as of the time present. Reduced into 13. chap. very commodious and profitable for a devout Christian (Rouen, 1583), STC 17263. 150A 1595 edition of the Manual, produced at a secret press in England, describes a confused state when it comes to setting forth the liturgical calendar. `There were forgotten in this calendar, Saint Mary Magdalene's day, which is used to be kept Holy. Also, the translation of Saint Thomas of Canterbury, Jul. 7 And All-Souls day at the least until noon. And Good Friday until noon likewise were kept hallowed. The third day of after Easter, and the third day after Whitsuntide, were holy days by custom of England. Neither can all be set down precisely because customs are not certainly known. ' (England, secret press, 1595), STC 17265, sig. A1". 151T his typically includes the twelve articles of the Creed with the names of the corresponding apostles, the ten commandments, twelve fruits of the Holy Ghost, the beatitudes, the five senses of the body, the types of sin (original and actual, mortal and venial), the deadly sins and their corresponding virtues. 152T ypical of the prayers are ̀ When you are forth of your bed'; `In washing your hands'; `A prayer to thy proper angel'; `In taking of fish. ' (St Omer, 1613), STC 17273. 153J M. Blom, The Post-Tridentine English Primer (London, 1982), pp. 113-114. 84 God necessariesf or body and soul; 8. of Thanksgiving to God for his benefices. Friday 3. for obtaining remission of sins; 6 prayers of the life and passion of our saviour Jesus Christ Saturday 13. for the departed souls; to the BVM and to the Holy Saints. 154 Chapters 1,2, and 7, which are not found in the weekly distribution `are convenient at certain times, and for certain persons for which cause they are not mete to be put in order with the other as above named.' 155B ound with the original Manual, and the editions which follow, and with its own title page is a copy of Certain devout and Godly petitions called Jesus Psalter.1 56 The number of editions and variants of the Manual that were produced during the period of this study bears witness to the genre's enormous popularity. It is tempting to conclude, in fact, that this type of devotional book, which laid out specific prayers for particular days and occasions within the day, was the most appealing to a post-Reformation English audience. The appearanceo f similar works, too, testifies to the unparalleled popular appeal of this particular sub-genre of devotional literature. A paradise of prayers and meditations. Gathered out of divers authors as well ancient as modem and divided into three parts would certainly have appealed to the same audience which had been so delighted with the Manual. The title continues: By the R. F. Edward Maihew Priest and monk of the holy Order of S. Bennet. The first part. The contents of the whole work are briefly declared after the epistle '54Flinton,A manual of prate, sig. alr. 155F linton, A manual of prayers,s ig. al'. 156T he JesusP salter is comprised of fifteen petitions with ten invocations. This petition, for example, is repeatedt en times: `Jesu,J esu,J esu.H elp me.' It has been attributed to Richard Whitford. The 1589 edition of the Manual provides instruction for the proper recitation of the JesusP salter: ̀ Here it is to be noted...t hat the fifteen principal petitions must be said each one by themself, like as they shall be set forth in this book by order. And you may say them upon your fingers, or upon ten beads,o r else read them as they be written, and it is good for them that cannot read, to learn these invocations without book. ' A manual of prayers (Rouen, 1589), STC 17264, sig, A2". 85 dedicatory. ' 57 Edward Maihew wrote to Lady Monteagle, to whom the book is dedicated, the reasons why he undertook the task of collecting and translating so many prayers: Being desirous some few years since during the time of Lent to intermit mine ordinary course of studies touching controversies, and to spend those few weeks of penance and recollection partly in some pious exercise which might be profitable to my poor afflicted country; and finding that sundry excellent prayers written in Latin were not yet published in our English tongue: I resolved to gather into English work certain selected prayers dispersed into Latin books of many authors. '58 The editor calls his text a `paradise' rather than a manual to advertise the abundance and fecundity of the text that was now before the reader: `Further, because all such prayers so collected could not conveniently be contained in one volume which might rightly be termed a Manual, I thought it convenient to call mine intended work a Paradise, that is a garden, of devout prayers and meditations. ' 159 The book of 605 pages was twice the size of the first edition of the Manual. Within its pages are the predictable elements with which the readers of the Manual and the Primer would have been familiar: the liturgical calendar, `A rule how to know ember days,' `the times of marriage' [that is, 157E dward Maihew, ed., A paradise of prayers and meditations. Gathered out of divers authors as well ancient as modem and divided into three parts (Douai, 1613), STC 17197. The second and third parts, if they were ever produced, are not extant. 158Ib id, sig, ***4i. Edward Maihew played an important role in post-Reformation English Benedictinism. Born in Salisbury in 1570, he fled the country as a young man, entering the English College at Rheims when he was thirteen. From there he went to the English College, Rome. After he was ordained in 1595, he was sent to the mission. He made his profession as a monk of the English Congregation of the Benedictines at the hands of Dom Sigebert Buckley, the last surviving English monk to have made his own profession before the Reformation. Henry Birt, O. S.B ., Obit Book of the English Benedictines from 1600 to 1912 (Edinburgh, 1913), p. 8. 159M aihew, A paradise of prayers, sig. ***2'. And he continues, describing the processb y which it came into the hands of the reader ̀ I presentedt hen two parts of the three into which I divided it: and the first part was soon after delivered to the printer ready for the press. But I 86 when the church permitted the ceremony to take place], the Pater and the Ave, the Credo and the Confiteor, the commandments and the sacraments. Like the Manual it too contains `daily prayers to be used at distinct times of the day together with others to be said as sundry occasion shall require. ' Although the title of the Officium Beatae Mariae Vir inis 160i ndicates that the book might properly be classified along with those books which were intended to foster devotion to the Virgin Mary rather than with the manuals and primers, the text itself is a collection of psalms, prayers, and hymns. It does, however, include some specifically Marian elements, like `A prayer to the Blessed Virgin, ' `Another prayer to the said Virgin, ' `the plaint of the Blessed Virgin, ' `A commendation unto her, ' and `Another prayer unto the virgin. ' The first English translation of the text appeared in 1599 from the Antwerp press of Arnold Conings with the title The primer, or the office of the blessed Virgin Marie, in Latin and English: according to the reformed Latin: and with like graces privileged. 161 The edition that issued from the Douai press of Pierre Auroi in 1614 appeared with the title: The office of the blessed Virg. Marie, with the rubrics in English, for the commodity of those that do know not upon what occasion he put off the printing of it until this present year. Now coming to Douai it was my fortune to find the said first part almost finished. ' 160T he origin of the name ̀ Primer' to describe the Office of the Blessed Virign Mary is uncertain, although in 1539 John Hilsey, Bishop of Rochester,b elieved it was ̀ becauseI supposet hat is the first book in which the tender youth was instructed in. ' E. Birchenough, `The prymer in English, ' The Library, 17 (1938), p. 177. 161R ichard Verstegan, ed., The primer, or the office of the blessed Virgin Marie, in Latin and English: according to the reformed Latin: and with like graces privileged (Antwerp, 1599), STC 16094. See J. M. Blom's The Post-Tridentine English Primer (London, 1982) for a thorough discussion of the history of the Primer. 87 not understand the Latin tongue. '62 In all and by 1638 there were sixteen editions of the Primer intended for an English-reading audience, five in both Latin and English, three in Latin with English rubrics, and eight entirely in English, following the edition of 1615 that appeared with the title The primer or the office of the blessed Virgin Mary, in English. According to the last edition of the Roman Breviary. 163T he purpose of the book is described in an address to the reader which appears in five editions: For the more utility of such of the English nation as understand not the Latin tongue, it hath been thought convenient to publish in Latin & English, the primer, or Office of the blessed virgin Mary: containing nothing but matter of prayer and devotion, and therefore not offensive to any, except it be in respect of the service of God according to the ancient faith of our Christian forefathers, who have continued in former ages (even as the most part of Christendom yet observeth) the worthy magnifying of his most blessed mother. 164 A paradise of prayers and the Manual of prayers were texts to suit every sundry occasion, but they were not necessarily books that could suit every disposition or satisfy every religious aspiration. The number of Manuals produced from 1583-1640 demonstrates that there was a tremendous demand for convenient collections of pre-packaged prayers that could supplement or perhaps even entirely constitute the devotional life of the reader. But these books were not enough for some readers who aspired to a deeper spiritual life than could be maintained by the recitation of a few prayers at appropriate moments during the day. We do not know if some readers 162T he publisher was John Heigham. The office of the blessed Virg. Marie, with the rubrics in English, for the commodity of those that do not understand the Latin tongue (Douai, 1614), STC 16095.5. 163T he primer or the office of the blessed Virgin Mary, in English. According to the last edition of the Roman Breviary (Mechlin, 1615), STC 16096. 88 depended solely on the catechism and the Manual - or books like it - to provide for their devotional reading, but we can be certain that some readers would have no taste for the more abstruse and more spiritually sophisticated books that were also being supplied by the Catholic press. We can be certain of this as well, that there was among some English Catholics a spiritual longing that could not be satisfied by these compilations and collections. Indeed, there must have been a significant number who desired books that could lead them into a deeper and richer life of prayer. Spiritual Directories The books we have just considered, the catechisms, manuals and primers provided the reader with fundamental material - prayers and other devotions, as well as the doctrine of the Catholic church - required to make any advance in the spiritual life. The catechisms provided the rudiments of Catholic devotion - the sign of the cross, the `Our Father' and `Hail Mary' - and the manuals offered easily accessible and widely varied prayers and petitions. Unlike the books which will be discussed below and which offer the reader more sophisticated methods to a more advanced life of prayer by way of meditation and contemplation, spiritual directories aim at providing the reader with a rationale for living the Christian life, reasons for conversion, and practical advice when one has resolved to turn away from sin. The book belonging to this sub-genre of devotional literature is, as one bibliographer has put it, a `handbook of Christian living' offering practical advice and instruction for what several authors describe as the `art' of being a Christian. 164C ited in Blom, The Post-Tridentine English Primer, p. 15. 89 165G aspare Loarte, through the translation of his work by Stephen Brinkley, admonishes his reader: ̀ And take heed in the way to Churchward thou roll not thine eyes up and down, gazing here and there, especially at thine entry into the Church: but retire them home in modest and devout wise, and calling to mind thine own unworthiness and manifold sins.' 166A nd fathers are to see to it that those under their care ̀ should hear Mass, and to spend the holydays in godly exercises and to frequent the Blessed Sacraments of confession and receiving, so often as they may, and shall perceive it for their profit. ' 167 The most important of these books is unquestionably Robert Persons, S. J. 's The first book of the Christian exercise appertaining to resolution168 important both becauseo f its author, one of the leading figures of the English Counter-Reformation, and its impact on the spiritual life of English Catholics and Protestants alike. The successo f this book and of the others which can be classified as spiritual directories, demonstrates the need which existed for texts which both required an intellectual response to the demands of faith and which provided at least some of the means by which those demands could be met. Indeed, had the two other books which Persons intended to write on the 165J ohn Roberts, A critical anthology off English Recusant devotional Prose, 1558-1603 (Duquesne, 1966), p. 15 166S tephen Brinkley, trans., The exercise of a Christian life (England, secret press, 1579), sig. By". 167Ib id, Sig, Ci `-" 168R obert Persons, The first book of the Christian exercise appertaining to resolution (Rouen, 1582). See chapters four and six for a discussion of this book. See also, Thomas Clancy, `The spiritual publications of the English Jesuits, 1615-1640, ' RH, 19 (1989), 426-446; J. P. Driscoll, `The supposed sources of Person's Christian Directory, ' RE, 5 (1959) pp. 236-245; Brad S. Gregory, `The "True and Zealous Service of God": Robert Parsons, Edmund Bunny, and The First Book of the Christian Exercise, ' Journal of Ecclesiastical History 45 (1994), pp. 238-26; Victor Houliston, `Why Robert Persons would not be pacified: Edmund Bunny's theft of the Book of Resolution, ' in The Reckoned Expense: Edmund Campion and the Early English Jesuits, Thomas McCoog, ed. (Woodbridge, 1996), p. 159-177; Robert McNulty, Robert Persons' `The first book of Christian Exercise. ' An edition and Study (New York, 1956) and his `The "Protestant Version" of Robert Parsons' The First Book of the Christian Exercise, ' Huntington Library Quarterly, 22 (1959), pp. 271-300. 90 `Christian exercise' been completed, they may well have been as popular with his English audience. But only the first book of the proposed trilogy was ever finished: `The first book shall be of resolution, divided into parts. And in the first part shall be laid down all the principal reasons that ought to move a man to this resolution. In the second shall be removed all impediments that that commonly do hinder men from the same.' 169 The book, like others of the genre, does not lead the reader into pious contemplation of the eternal verities, but rather appeals to the reader's rational faculty, trying to convince him or her of the reasonableness,t he logic of the Christian life. This is, according to the author, not an easy task, since the reader will have spent a lifetime convincing himself or herself of the extreme difficulty or even the absolute impossibility of leading a Christian life. The reader too has appealed to `reason,' but a faulty one: Notwithstanding all the motives and considerations before set down, for inducing men to this necessaryr esolution of serving God for their salvation; there want not many Christians abroad in the world, whose hearts either entangled with the pleasures of this life, or given over by God to a reprobate sense,d o yield not whit at all to this battery, do not only resist and condemn, but also do seek excuses for their sloth and wickedness, and do allege reasons of their own perdition. Reasons I call them, according to the common phrase, though indeed, there be no one thing more against reason, than that a man should become enemy to his own Soul.1 70 In the same year that Father Persons produced his Resolution, English readers first received what would become another spiritual classic of the period when the exile Richard Hopkins translated the work of the Spanish 169R obert Persons,T he fist book of the Christian exercise, appertaining to resolution (Rouen, 91 Dominican Luis de Granada, Of prayer, and meditation, a work, as its title suggests, which belongs to the category discussed below, providing as it does meditations for every day of the week. Four years later readers would delight in another of Granada's works, the spiritual directory entitled A Memorial of a Christian life. Wherein are treated all such things, unto a Christian to do, from the be inning of his conversion, until the end of his perfection. 171 The popularity of Granada on the continent and in England is most likely due to his appreciation of the spiritual needs of his contemporaries. An abundance of books existed which explained to the Christian what to believe. Few, however, instructed him or her how to live: I know right well that there want not for this purpose at this day a number of books which do contain very sound and Catholic doctrine: howbeit for the greater part of them they do attend to someone particular matter, and will not bind themselves to treat in a small volume of all such matters as do concern a perfect Christian life. And albeit that the Catholic Catechisms (which are sums or abridgements of the Christian doctrine) do treat of everything that appertaineth to the same, yet for so much as these have respect to declare the substanceo f things, and such as belong to the understanding thereof, the doctrine of such Catechisms appertaineth to speculation than to practice: I mean hereby, that such doctrine tendeth rather to give light to the understanding, than to move the will unto the exercise and use of virtue. '72 The use of the term `exercise' in both Brinkley's translation and Persons composition was no accident (Persons had read Brinkley's translation, 1582), STC 19353, sig. Al". 170Ib id. "'Richard Hopkins, trans., A Memorial of a Christian life. Wherein are treated all such things, as appertain unto a Christian to do, from the beginning of his conversion, until the end of his perfection (Rouen, 1586). He calls the book a `memorial' because `it treats of the matters contained therein briefly. ' Sig. A4`. The matters may be treated briefly, but it is not a small book. The 1599 edition ran to over 750 pages. 172Ib id, sig. A2r-" 92 and his Resolution was the result of his appreciation of the earlier work). ' 73 These were not works of speculative - and certainly not mystical - theology, but books which attended to the praxis of the Christian faith. If Christianity was an art, a practice as well as a system of dogmas and beliefs, then it was something that required practitioners and artisans. And artisans required skills which could be acquired only after prolonged training: For as like good artificers do endeavour to have all such tools and instruments as belong to their occupation, and as those that study any art or science do seek to have some book wherein is contained whatsoever concerneth that science, that having each thing set in order together in one place their memory might the less be distracted, even so me thought it was very requisite to do the like in this profession, which is the art of arts and sciences of sciences.' 74 Gaspare Loarte was also fond of the analogy of the artisan: `For if in case every artisan think it necessaryt o know such things as belong unto his art: how much more is a true Christian bound to know what appertaineth to his profession (being an art above all arts). ' 175 The emphasis on the practical aspects of the faith found in these texts was not a reaction against the more speculative literature issuing from Catholic presses. The practice of prayer was, after all, very much at the centre of these directories, and methods of private prayer were also being promoted in a body of literature which instructed the reader in the higher science meditation and contemplation. 13 Persons, The first book of the Christian exercise apertaining to resolution (Rouen, 1582), Sig Blr. 174H opkins, A Memorial of a Christian life, sig. A2r. 15 Brinkley, The exercise of a Christian life (England, secret press, 1579). 93 Mental Prayer and Meditation If we can speak of a `devotional movement' taking place among the Catholics of England after 1570, it was, among other things, a movement to popularise mental prayer and contemplation. Promoting this meditative form of prayer in England connected an isolated community to the spiritual movement of universal Catholic reform. Promoted initially in the cloisters of the Continent, mental prayer eventually became, according to H. 0. Evennett, `one of the cornerstones of the new and reinvigorated spirituality that was gradually diffused, by means of the new apostolic techniques of the Counter- Reformation, throughout the whole Catholic church. ' `Contemplation, or Mental Prayer, ' as one author put it, `is the life of the soul of Religion; and spiritual profit, the highway to perfection. ' 176A nd another was just as insistent: `Catholic servants of God almighty here upon earth, earnestly labour to attain unto a perpetual practice of mental or spiritual prayer, thereby to separatet heir hearts and affections from the base affairs of the sons of Adam, to attend unto the noble exercise of the heavenly Jerusalem, the elevation of their spirits and minds to God and heavenly things, even in this vale of misery. ' 177T he Italian Jesuit Vincenzo Bruno is unrestrained in his praise of the practice: `Meditation is ... the shortest and only way to attain Christian perfection: it is the path which all holy men (of what estate so ever) have trodden. ' 178 176J ohn Wilson, ed., A treatise of mental prayer. In which is briefly declared the manner how to exercise the inward acts of virtues (St Omer, 1617), sig. *3r. 177T homas Doughty, The practice how to find ease, rest, repose, content, and happiness (Douai, 1618), STC 7072.5, sig. A7"-A8`. 178R ichard Gibbons, trans., An abridgement of meditations of the life, passion, death & resurrection of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Written in Italian by the R. Father Vincentius Bruno of the Society of Jesus. And translated into English by R. G. of the same 94 The manuals, catechisms, and similar collections provided a nearly endless supply of prayers to be recited on any occasion. As salutary as this practice was, vocal prayer was not the best one could do to support a spiritual life now deprived of its most efficacious and familiar means of sustenance. `Vocal prayer made with the mouth and voice, saying of sundry offices, psalms, and devotions, is a very profitable thing, ' but there were spiritual heights that could be scaled only by applying a more sophisticated method of prayer. `Yet is not... that which we call mental the more worthy and excellent kind a great deal, and whereof the holy doctors do chiefly mean, when they speak of the excellence of prayer, & the singular fruits which proceed thereof? The which mental kind of prayer doth so far pass and go beyond the vocal, as doth the soul or spirit, in dignity, pass and excel the body. ' 179R ichard Gibbons was only one of a number of authors who needed to remind the reader that mental prayer and contemplation were equally the duty of the lay person as they were of the monk or nun: `And let those who think meditation to belong only to Religious persons, and that secular ought not or need not busy themselves therewith, be fully persuaded,t hat they are in an error very pernicious. For as secular men have more distractions by reason of their divers worldly employments, than Religious, more temptations, sins and ill-habits to conquer: so have the more need to retire themselves by this holy recollection. ' 180L ay men and women could benefit enormously from the frequent, even daily practice of mental prayer. But mental prayer was a discipline that required instruction, instruction that, for English men and Society. Whereunto is premised a brief method for instruction & practice in meditation (St Omer, 1614), STC 3941, sig. *6". 95 women, could only rarely be received at the hands of a `ghostly father' expert in matters of ascetical theology. The books devoted to this instruction demonstrate that mental prayer was a science, the knowledge of which could be acquired only after time and effort were applied to its operation. Mental prayer was certainly not simply the mind directed at things spiritual, or random and vague musings upon divine matters. If anything, the mental prayer taught by so many spiritual authors and promoted by so many English translators and publishers was controlled and structured, systematic and disciplined. It differed dramatically from the mysticism that was becoming so prevalent on the continent, that type of prayer that attempts to unite the individual to God by moving beyond the senses,b y eliminating distractions and freeing the mind from thoughts - good or bad - since thought, the product of the imagination, was believed to interfere with the divine action in the individual's soul. Indeed, mysticism was opposed to the operations of the understanding and the will that were the foundations for this type of mental prayer. The Benedictine Gertrude More, a disciple of the mystic Augustine Baker, composed her Holy pictures of a divine lover for those who seek after God `without troubling themselves with busy and impertinent operations of the understanding, commonly called Meditations or discourses of the understanding, to move & excite the will, which in the case of these divine & Seraphic Idiot, are superfluous. ' 181 179B rinkley, The exercise of a Christian life, sig. Ci". ''80GibbonsA, n abridgement of meditations,s ig. *8`. 181G ertrude More, The holy pictures of a divine lover (Paris, 1657), p. 24. 96 It is no wonder that devotional books of a more mystical character are nearly absent from the corpus considered in this thesis. ' 82A church largely deprived of clerical leadership needed a spiritual life based on discipline and structure, not a method of prayer that promoted a type of personal revelation or encouraged the reader to ascend to mystical heights beyond the interpretation of proper ecclesiastical authority. 183 ̀Mysticism, ' as Helen White observed `is a perilous thing. It is in so much danger, to begin with, of attracting the wrong kind of people for the wrong reasons. It ministers so easily to the love of the esoteric, the marvellous, even the magical. ' 184T his is certainly why the English version of William Fitch's Rule of Perfection, written first in French and translated by the author himself, omitted the third part of the treatise. It was `not mete to be published, ' Fitch tells his English reader, ̀ as treating of matters somewhat high for the capacity of the common sort. '' 85 Part of the task of the authors and translators of such books was to persuade the reader of the benefits of this type of prayer, benefits which could not have been obvious since many of these books are certainly addressing a 182T here were, however, examples of the genre in The life of the blessed virgin, saint Catherine of Sienna, translated by John Fen in 1609, and in The history, life, and miracles, ecstasies and revelations of the blessed virgin, sister Joan of the Cross translated by Arthur Bell in 1625. Both books contain the mystical visions of these two religious women. STC 18889 and STC 6185. In the case of Sister Joan, the author tells us that he follows `fourteen authentic informations' which were recorded by the mystic's secretary Sister Marie Evangelist who `our Lord gave the grace to read and write, for before she did not know it, according as by many witnesses hath been proved: and that after the death of this blessed woman, she appeared to another religious in the quire vested with splendour, with a book of gold open in her hands, representing that which she had written of the things of the glorious Joan. ' sig. *4`. See also Ronald E. Surtz, The Guitar of God : Gender, Power, and Authority in the Visionary World of Mother Juana de la Cruz (1481-1534) (Philadelphia 1990). 183O nly one work by Teresa of Avila was translated into English during this period: The life of the mother Teresa of Jesus. Written in Spanish by herself, and now translated into English out of Spanish (Antwerp, 1611), STC 23948.5. 184H elen White, English Devotional Literature 1600-1640 (Madison, Wisc., 1931), p. 118. 185W illiam Fitch, The rule of perfection (Rouen, 1609), STC 10928.3, sig. C8". An Italian translation of the book was placed on the Index on 29 November 1689. Index Librorum Prohibitorum (Rome, 1841), p. 80. 97 readership with little experience in the area of mental prayer and contemplation. These readers needed to be persuaded that `of the exercises of this life, this spiritual or mental prayer, is one of the sweetest and most pleasing that can be to the heart of man. ' 186E ven the author Thomas Wright felt somewhat out of his depth when he ventured into the genre of meditation; expounding the subtleties of contemplation required a lengthier treatment than defending the faith, his usual literary occupation: `These meditations pass in prolixity mine accustomed manner of writing, ' he admitted. 187 To be sure, there did exist more advanced treatises on mental prayer, intended for a more practised readership, but the number of books which include a definition of the exercise reveals a method of prayer that was probably not well known or commonly practised. `Meditation' one author was obliged to tell his reader is noting else but a discourse made by the understanding, in which it considereth something or other, & from that draweth other different thoughts, conceits, considerations, gathering one thing from another. In the same manner as when one is alone, plotting something which he is to do, & considering that he must do it in this, or that manner, for this reason or for that.... In this very manner is meditation of spiritual things, that the understanding considering one of the mysteries of our Faith, maketh discourses upon it, and conceits, of what it behooveth us to love, and what to hate; of what we must seek to procure, and what to fly and take heed of and the like. ' 88 186ThomasD oughty, The practice how to find ease, rest, repose, content, and happiness (Douai, 1618), STC 7072.5, sig. A 11" -A 12r. 187T homas Wright, The disposition or garnishment of the soul to receive worthily the blessed sacrament (England, secret press, 1596), STC 18335, sig. A51. 188J ohn Wilson, ed. A treatise of mental prayer in which is briefly declared the manner how to exercise the inward Acts of virtues. By Fr. Ant. de Molina Carthusian. Where unto is adjoined a very profitable treatise of Exhortation to Spiritual profit. Written by F. Francis Arias of the Society of Jesus. Together with a dialogue of Contrition and Attrition. all translated out of the Spanish into English by a Father of the Society of Jesus (St Omer, 1617), STC 18000, sig. A1.r "" 98 Another defines his subject this way: `Mental prayer (whereof we here treat) is a work of the three interior faculties of the soul, memory, understanding, and will, exercising, by god's assistance,t heir acts about those mysteries and truths, which our holy Catholic faith treateth; and speaking within ourselves to God our Lord, conversing familiarly with him, begging of him his gifts, and negotiating all whatsoever is necessaryf or our salvation, and perfection. ' 189 Edward Walpole, translator of The pilgrim of Loreto. Performing his vow made to the glorious Virgin Mary Mother of God. Containing divers devout meditations upon the Christian & Cath. Doctrine believed it necessaryt o tell his reader that `Prayer is a conversation of the heart of God. ' 190A nd Thomas Everard was equally obliged to speak in such basic terms: `Mental prayer is when the soul speaketh to God interiorilly, without pronouncing any word at all, showing unto him what he desireth with the motion of the lips. This is true and perfect prayer & in the which God delights him. "91 An audience familiar with the discipline and convinced of its benefits would hardly need to be informed that mental prayer is `speaking within ourselves to God our Lord. ' 192 If `meditation' and `contemplation' were part of the common spiritual vocabulary they were not, it seems,p art of the common devotional experience. To those who were reluctant to ascend the spiritual heights only achievable through mental prayer, one author speaks in a reassuring tone: `To meditate is as much as to say as to think of some kind of thing or matter diligently & 189J ohn Heigham, trans., Meditations upon the mysteries of our holy faith (St Omer, 1619), STC 20486, sig. B2`. '90Walpole, The pilgrim of Loreto, sig. F4`. 191T homas Everard, trans., An instruction how to pray and meditate well (St Omer, 1622), STC 1341, sig. B5`-B6r. '92JohnH eigham, trans., Meditations upon the mysteries of our holy faith (St Omer, 1619), STC 20486, sig. B2 1" 99 attentively, to the end to pray and to speak with God. ' 193A nother offers practical advice and encouragement for the beginner: Those who are nothing at all acquainted with mental prayer, let them say, Come 0 Holy Ghost, and the prayer and direction, as it is set down in the practice. Then take any spiritual book, which does best please them, and read a little, and slowly, and after they have read a little, shut the book, and think upon that they have read, as long as they can, and when they find themselves distracted, from thinking upon that they have read, open the book, and read it again, and after shut it, and think upon it & make the best discourse they can out of it: and so open the book again, & read it, as often as they shall find themselves distracted. 194 As with the reader of devotional literature in general, the reader of contemplative literature in particular was offered a wide variety of methods from which to choose. ̀ The meditation may be divided into three points, ' one author advises, ̀ The first is to consider the story of the mystery whereof we are to meditate. The second is to ponder the circumstances which concur in it. And the third is to draw the fruit, and acts of virtues, which may be gathered out of them. ' 195A nother outlines his preferred technique: But to the intent that thou good (Christian Reader) mayest use these meditations to thy greater profit, thou must observe this order that followeth: that at such time as thou mindest to pray thou presently read over all those chef points that are to be thought upon concerning that day, then pause somewhat in contemplation of that wherein though took most pleasure in thy meditation: and directing thy contemplation to some virtue seriously consider with thyself how diligently Christ exercises himself therein. ' 96 193E verard, An instruction how to pray and meditate well, sig. B2r" 194D oughty, The practice how to find ease, rest, repose, content, and happiness, sig, B4". 195J ohn Wilson, ed. A treatise of mental prayer in which is briefly declared the manner how to exercise the inward Acts of virtues (St Omer, 1617), STC 18000, sig. A2". 196A non., trans., Certain devout meditations very necessary for men devoutly to meditate upon morning and evening, every day in the week: Concerning Christ his life and Passion, and the fruits thereof (Douai, 1576), STC 17775, sig. Aiiii`. 100 Nor was mediation an activity that could be carried out without some degree of preparation. Thomas Hawkins instructs his reader, `Begin from the evening the purpose of good works, which you are to perform the next day, what points you ought to meditate on, what vices you should resist, what virtue exercise, what affair you are to handle, to make all appear in its proper time with a well matured providence. ' 197A nother recommends a similar programme of preparation: `To be therefore better prepared, we must the night before read over that part of the book, or writing, twice, or thrice, whence we take our matter: then divide it into three parts or points, more or fewer as we please: after that propose unto ourselves that which we mean to make the especial end of our meditation. ' 19 8 Before the reader of Nicholas Berzetti's The practice of meditating even begins his or her devotions, he or she is required to make the extensive spiritual preparations. In the morning when we shall awake, immediately expelling all other thoughts, let him briefly, yet heartily give God due thanks for his benefits, and purpose earnestly to eschew all imperfections, but especially that, which he then seeks with diligence to amend, by means of his particular examine. After this let him taste a little of his meditation, and stir up in himself, sometimes sorrow, shame and confusion; at other times a desire to know with some clearness the mystery of the son of God incarnate...; sometimes to gain joy and comfort to congratulate the same our Lord's glory and felicity... Which to perform more easily he shall help himself much by oft revolving in his mind some similitude agreeable unto that mystery, or to say with great affection a verse of some psalm, or other sentence of holy Scripture or fathers...B ut when he is to meditate oftentimes in one day at least a quarter of an hour before meditation, let him read well the points, and commit them to memory, and consider well wither he is to go, and 197T homas Hawkins, trans., The Christian Diurnal (Paris, 1632), STC, 4871, B5r-" 198G ibbons, An abridgement of meditations, sig. *I Ov. 101 before whom to appear, or at least let him do something equivalent, to that which he did before his morning prayer. 199 For the exercises of meditation and contemplation to have the desired effects, that is an increase of devotion, an enhanced spiritual life, and a more regular participation in the traditional piety of the Catholic church, these exercises could not be left to the whim of the individual reader. The instructions contained in one book of meditations based on the life of the Virgin Mary are typical of the genre. The book is divided into narrative sections which the author calls `histories. ' The structure of the exercise ensures that little remains for the creative impulse: spiritual success presumably - at least according to the method described here - depends on a precise and even rigorous progression. Immediately set down for each history, three short points whereupon to meditate, then out either of the history that goeth before, or of some other godly considerations; to the end that each one may make some sufficient matter, whereof to think and discourse: because our mind and understanding, when it hath some beginning and ground, doth easily discourse of itself, and findeth out divers conceits and spiritual thoughts, in which the soul is much comforted, and entering into itself doth thereby reap great fruit and commodity. Finally, after the points of meditation, there do follow three documents or instructions answering to the said points which documents put in practice will serve undoubtedly as a wonderful aid, to direct and conform our lives and actions, according to those of the blessed virgin, our Queen and sovereign.2 00 `99T homas Talbot, trans. The practice of meditating with profit the mysteries of our Lord, the blessed Virgin and saints (Mechlin, 1613), STC 4125, sig. A4`-". This text is particularly interested in the reader's readiness,d evoting several pagest o `remote preparations,' `the nearer preparations,' `immediate preparations.' 200R ichard Gibbons, trans., The Virgin life faithfully gatheredo ut of ancient and holy fathers. together with meditations and documentsu pon the same( Douai, 1604), STC 19940, sig +4`. 102 `Points,' `conceits', `considerations', `discourses', `documents', `counter-points' and `colloquiums' were technical terms, part of the elaborate nomenclature created to guide the `principiant' - one just beginning the practice - as he or she undertakes meditation and mental prayer. And if one thing emerges from this type of literature, it is discipline and structure. The following text is typical of this class of literature. It does allow for a degree of personal selection but successi s clearly based on following a formula: But to the intent that thou good Christian reader mayest use these meditations to thy great profit, thou must observe this that followeth: that at such time as thou mindest to pray, thou presently read over all those chief points that are to be thought upon concerning that day, then pause somewhat in contemplation of that wherein thou takest most pleasure in thy meditation. And directing thy contemplation to some virtue seriously considering within thyself how diligently Christ exercised himself therein, who gave an example earnestly to follow his steps. Then determine with thy self to imitate that virtue which thy prayer entreateth of that day, and to increase daily in the same. Labour also eftsoon in the day time, to call to mind that which thou proposed with thy self, and that wilt omit no occasion whereby thou mayest put that virtue in practice in thy self.2 01 The discipline of devotion was regulated in these texts not only by determining how meditations should take place, but by regulating when they would occur. Typical of texts on meditation and mental prayer, and indeed of the whole genre of devotion, is the book that uses the seven days of the week as a natural way of dividing meditations and assessingt he reader's progress in his practice of these devotions. The quotidian characteristic of these books ensured that, if the reader were faithful to the routine prescribed in them, he or 2011 . R., A manual or meditation, and most necessary prayers: with memorial of instructions right requisite (England, secret press, c. 1596), STC 17278.6, sig. A6"-A7". 103 she would receive a daily portion of orthodox prayers and regularly be exposed to approved devotions. Among this type of book we find Seven Godly considerations for the avoiding of mortal sin, accommodated to the seven days of the week; 202A brief collection concerning the love of God towards mankind, & how for divers causesw e are justly bound to love & serve him. With preparation to prayer, and certain necessaryp rayers and thanks igvines God for his benefits, daily to be used;2 03A n angellical exercise. For every day of the week; 204a nd Of prayer and meditation. Wherein are contained fourteen devout meditations for the seven days of the week, both for the mornings and_ evenings. 205 A book entitled Certain devout meditations very necessaryf or men devoutly to meditate upon morning and evening, every day in the week: Concerning Christ his life and Passion, and the fruits thereof sets down the weekly schedule of meditation in this manner: `Upon Sunday think of Christ his humility, ' `On Monday, remember the mildness of Christ, ' `On Tuesday, weigh with thyself the patience of Christ, ' `On Wednesday, have in remembrance the obedience of Christ, ' `On Thursday, have in mind the loving kindness of Christ, ' `On Friday we must think upon the marvellous burning charity of our Lord, ' `On Saturday, the bountifulness of Christ our saviour and the lamentation that was made for him is to be remembered.' Each day 202T his is found in a collection by John Wilson, ed. The burning lamp. To enlighten such, as truly desire to attain to perfection (St Omer, 1635), STC 12144.5, sig. S4`-Vl". 203A non., A brief collection concerning the love of God towards mankind, & how for divers causes we are justly bound to love & serve him. With preparation to prayer, and certain necessary prayers and thanksgiving to God for his benefits, daily to be used (Douai, 1603), STC 5554. 204J ohn Wilson, ed., The burning lamp. To enlighten such, as truly desire to attain to perfection (St Omer, 1635), STC 12144.5. 205H opkins, Of prayer, and meditation. 104 contains five meditations related to the general themes : `The first is fetched from Christ his infancy. The second is deduced out of his life, the other three are taken from his passion.' 206 Most authors of these texts on mental prayer left little to the caprice of the reader's discretion; structure and method were attractive components of these books which promised results if the structure was left unaltered and the method adhered to. Some, however, were less rigid in their presentation of the material: Here is first placed a meditation and prayer at the end of it, for every day in the week on some part of the life or passion of Christ, which you may use if your leisure permit you, after you have done your morning prayers. As for the use of the rest of the prayers and such other things as you find, I think it needless to prescribe any course for that you may use them as the titles do direct you, and as opportunity and your leisure will permit you. 207 And another provides for the reader's particular preference: Moreover, this manner of distinguishing and entertaining a man's self upon every article, may serve for all sort's of people; for who so mindeth to discourse upon all three points of the mystery, whereon he meditateth, well may he so do; and who fancied not to pause in each point so long time, may make choice of that point that shall best like him; serving his turn if he think good, with the meditating of one only point, and the amplification thereof, if he list, which he might right easily find out, seeing every point is so plainly distinguished apart, as one hangeth not of another, but each one is absolute in his own conclusion. 208 206A non., trans. Certain devout meditations very necessary for men devoutly to meditate upon morning and evening, every day in the week: Concerning Christ his life and Passion, and the fruits thereof (Douai, 1576), STC 17775, sig. Aiiii". 207I . R., A manual or meditation, and most necessary prayers: with memorial of instructions right requisite (England, secret press, c. 1596), STC 17278.6, sig. A3'. 105 Many devotional books were not meant to be read on a weekly schedule or on a daily basis; they give no indication of a preferred frequency or method. But those that did provided a discipline and a routine that was now, for the most part, lacking in English Catholicism. Anything that could add structure and form to the religious and spiritual life of a community generally deprived of the same must certainly have been warmly received, perhaps even fervently pursued. Of course, regular prayer, at least twice a day, was not something new nor was it an innovation of the Counter-Reformation. Daily, regular prayer guided by spiritual authors and consisting of orthodox prayers and devotions was an ancient Catholic practice. This is precisely why it was promulgated with such enthusiasm - if not urgency - by authors and publishers. Regular, daily exposure to Catholic devotion was seen as protection against the infectious errors of heresy and the tempting allure of conformity. But simply becauset he practice of twice-daily prayer had been an ancient custom does not mean that this custom did not take on an added significance with the religious upheaval in England. What was needed now, more than ever, were the regular, daily, structured and controlled exercises in devotion that these books provided. Supplying books that were meant to be used on a regular basis did not, of course, guarantee that they would be read. For that to happen authors and publishers needed to ensure that what they were producing was what the English Catholic wanted to read. As we have already noted in Chapter 1, defining the construct of the `English Catholic' is no simple task. Responding 208J ohn Fen, trans., Instructions and advertisements,h ow to meditate the mysteries of the rosary of the most holy virgin Mary (England, secretp ress, 1599), STC 16646, sig. Aviii"-Bir. 106 in print to the spiritual needs, tastes and temperaments of this elusive and complex group was, likewise, not a straightforward endeavour. The corpus of devotional literature reflects the diversity of this group, but it also reflects a movement of Catholic reform and renewal that was burgeoning on the Continent. Devotional books responded to the spiritual aspirations of English Catholics. At the same time these books drew that isolated and persecuted group into the wider Catholic community. The Counter-Reformation was having some impact in England, at least as English readers were coming into contact with books on Catholic devotion issuing from the continent. The translation of Spanish and Italian devotional books was one way that the English printing mission ensured that the community did not remain isolated, that English Catholics were able to preserve their identity as they participated in the prayers and devotions of the wider Catholic world. Chapter three: The translation of devotion. `A good translator is a good engineer, since he openeth and discloseth the mines of the hidden and golden treasure of other men's learning. ' Thomas Everard, S. J., Of the eternal felicity of the saints. ' English Catholic readers had made available to them the best devotional literature issuing from the Continent and were thus incorporated into a wider universe of Catholic literature and devotion. From Spain came the works of Luis de Granada, Alonso Rodriguez, Alfonso Villegas, and Alonso de Madrid, to name but a few. Devotional texts by Nicolas Caussin, Francis de Sales, and even the Italian Jesuit Ignatio Balsamo were translated from French originals, now accessible to those who could read only English, or those who at least desired to conduct their devotions in that language. Vincenzo Bruno, Fulvio Androzzi, Luca Pinella and Garpare Loarte were among the Italian authors whose works were made available to English readers. Many of the Latin originals of spiritual masters like Augustine, Gregory, Thomas a Kempis, Bonaventure, Bernard and Bellarmine were `reduced' into the vernacular for the spiritual benefit of English Catholics. English men and women who now relied on devotional texts to nourish their spiritual lives, depended on books which were originally the products of the spiritual renewal of the Counter-Reformation. Over half of the devotional literature that made its way into English Catholic households after 1560 had originally been written in languages other than English; those who were responsible for the printing industry associated with the Catholic mission in England relied, as often as not, on foreign-language texts for the devotional 108 material which they hoped could satisfy the spiritual needs of the faithful at home.2 Like English devotional literature in general, the translated texts represented a assortment of sub-genres, indicating that not only English readers, but Catholics on the Continent as well had accesst o a wide variety of devotional themes and methods of prayer. Why did the press turn so often to foreign devotional texts produced in entirely different contexts, rather than concentrate its efforts on producing devotional works suited to the particular spiritual needs of English Catholics? Those spiritual needs experienced by English Catholics largely - or for long periods - deprived of the sacramentsa nd the ministrations of the clergy were certainly different from those of their co-religionists on the Continent who were not required to suffer for the faith and who regularly enjoyed the administration of the sacraments. A persecuted community might have benefited more from a particular sub-genre of devotion - perhaps the literature of consolation - than from books which instructed the reader how to participate in rites which were infrequently performed, which informed the pious soul how to receive the sacrament of the Eucharist worthily or described the proper manner in which to prepare for confession. But in fact no such particular, English-specific, genre emerged. True, devotional material was adapted to the political situation which confronted English Catholics, but for the most part English Catholics were supplied with the same types of devotional books - ' Thomas Everard, S. J., Of the eternal felicity of the saints (St Omer, 1638), STC 1841, sig. A4`. 2 See Appendix. 109 apart from the more mystical literature - which were available in the Continent. 3 Several reasons can be put forward to explain the remarkable number of translated devotional books that appeared in English after 1575. The explanation advanced most frequently is that it is simply easier to translate devotional works than to compose them. The argument is presented this way: The Recusants were primarily men of action. There were so many battles to be waged both by pen and by sword, and there was so much active missionary work to be accomplished with few priests and little money that there was simply not the time nor the leisure needed for composing books of devotions, which are the products of contemplation and silence, especially when a rich harvest of Continental devotional works was readily at hand.4 It could not be denied that producing printed material for the Catholics in England was a priority of the missionary priests, but one which competed with other priorities for the attention that was given to the press. All that was needed to produce a translation, it is argued, was a talented linguist with sufficient time, and judging from the number of translators who composed no works of their own, we may assumet hat these were more numerous than the spiritual authors who possessedt he theological sophistication and training that was required to produce devotional texts. `Translation, ' as H. S. Bennett has noted, `was not an art reserved for a few, but something attempted by many as the occasion seemed to them to arise.' 5 3 See Chapter 4 for the way in which the political situation was incorporated into devotional books. ' John Roberts, A Critical Anthology of English RecusantD evotional Prose (Duquesne, 1966), p. 45. 5 H. S. Bennett, English Books and Readers, 1603 - 1640 (Cambridge, 1970), p. 76. 110 This argument, though not entirely satisfactory, does have some merit. Priests on the mission, trained in foreign seminaries and therefore trained in foreign languages, would have found translation an occupation suited to their experience and qualifications. Composition required distinct skills and different resources. One author lamented `how difficult a thing it is in England at this day for a Catholic man to write any book, where neither liberty nor rest, nor libraries nor being is permitted him. '6 The argument, however, is based on the assumption that less time and effort are required of the translator than the author. But when translators speak of their work and contrast it to the travails of the author, they never speak in terms of effort, but always in terms of skill or talent. Indeed, a translator may translate becauseh e lacks the background and the training that would permit him to compose; he does not translate because it consumes less time. In this regard translation is not necessarily easier than composition. As one engaged in the former occupation testified: `For when the conceptions are choice & the power of speech is great in any author, his translator is likely enough to find his hands full of work. '? Thus the argument of facility cannot sufficiently explain the enormous amount of devotional material translated into English: the argument that translation is easier than composition is itself too facile. Aligned to the argument of facility is the argument of availability: foreign books were translated in such great numbers becauset hey existed in such great numbers. Indeed they did, and English translators were spoilt for choice when it came to selecting books to translate. 6 H. S. Bennett, English Books and Readers, 1558 - 1603 (Cambridge, 1965), p. 117. But translation, it must be remembered, was a selective process and not everything that was available to the translator was chosen to occupy his time. Obviously, a book was not culled from the pool of pious literature simply because it existed. If we can dismiss the arguments of facility and availability as being entirely responsible for this phenomenon, where else can we look for an explanation? Foreign devotional books must have held a particular appeal apart from their availability or the facility (real or imagined) with which they could be made available in English. Indeed, it was their foreignness as much as their abundance which caught the eye of the translator. The foreign devotional book possesseda n inherent benefit that the English devotional book did not. The foreign book, which very often advertised its foreign origin on the titlepage - `first written in Italian: after turned into Latin: and now translated into English, ' 8 ̀ translated into English by S. B. Newly pursued & set forth in a more perfect method for the benefit of devout Catholic people, '9 - held an appeal apart from its devotional character. The foreign Catholic book had a unique attraction: it was a powerful totem and a potent symbol - one that could even be held in the hand -a reminder that the reader was a member of an ancient, universal, catholic church. The psychological benefit of such a realisation must have been tremendous. Being a Catholic in Protestant England after 1559 was, for many, an isolating experience. To associate oneself with a religion that was feared, 7 Henry Hawkins, trans., Certain selected epistles of S. Hierome as also the lives of Saint Paul the first hermit, of Saint Hilarion the first monk of Syria, and of S. Malchus: written by the same saint (St Omer, 1630), STC 14502, sig. A2r-" 8 Thomas Everard, S. J., trans., Certain devout considerations of frequenting the blessed sacrament (Douai, 1606), STC 632. 112 despised and illegal was at the same time to deprive oneself of membership in a community - however misguided it was considered to be - and to leave unfulfilled a fundamental human need, the conviction that one belongs. Ultimately, and whatever other consequencesi t may have had, the choice not to conform was also a choice not to belong. But the foreign book, the product of the vast Catholic Continent, was a persuasive reminder that the reader did indeed belong, not, he or she was reminded, to a community infected with heresy, lost in the darkness of error, only lately born of pride and sin and now divided into innumerable sects, but to an ancient community, strong in its unity, united in its devotion, catholic in its belief. The foreign devotional book was able to achieve what no English Catholic book could hope to: it incorporated the isolated Catholic community into the universal and vibrant movement of Catholic reform. But there is one other factor which can help us to understand the large number of devotional texts translated for an English-reading audience: English government policy. In another irony associated with the production of Catholic literature, we discover that the English Protestant establishment was itself partly responsible for the influx of translated devotional books. England's religious policy tried to stem the flow of Catholic literature making its way into the country, literature which was intended to rekindle a faith which, largely deprived of its ceremonies and the men required to carry them out, the establishment hoped would eventually fade away. But it was the same religious policy which, ironically, contributed to the vast number of translated 9 Stephen Brinkley, trans., The exercise of a Christian life (St Omer, 1610), STC 16644. 113 devotional books secreted into England when it forced educated young men to flee to Continental centres of Catholicism. Recusants forced to flee England for their religious beliefs came into contact with the abundant devotional material that was issuing from Spain, Italy and the Low Countries. Because the Counter-Reformation in Spain, for example, saw to it that Protestant ideas were given little chance to advance, the religious literature produced there was, for the most part, devotional. And if one can assume that polemical literature is by its nature occasional, then we can understand why Spanish authors could afford to direct their energies to devotional material; they simply had no occasion to enter into religious controversies. English translators recognised in Spanish devotional literature material that was already perfectly suited to the situation in England, and they eagerly did what they could to make it available in the vernacular. With the religious legislation of 1559 English ports saw the return of the Protestant exiles who had fled the country under the persecution of Mary Tudor. Over the course of the next few years those same ports saw the departure of another group of English men and women, Catholic exiles determined to practice their religion openly and in relative peace. They naturally emigrated to cities which had traditionally offered hospitality to English students - to Padua, Paris, and Salamanca,t o Dunkirk, Rouen, and Rheims, to Brussels, Madrid and Rome. ' 0 It was Louvain, however, which became the haven for many of that first wave of immigrants from Oxford and Cambridge. The proximity to England and the city's reputation as a centre for 114 learning made it an easy choice for the scholars who resigned their university positions or who were deprived of them for their refusal to accept the monarch as the supreme Governor of the Church in England. From this city came the incessant and formidable attacks from the Catholic exiled scholars who eventually became known as the `Louvain School of Apologetics' and who, collectively, produced from 1564-1568 an average of ten books of controversy a year. Louvain remained an important centre of Catholic intellectual life, but it lost its position as the symbolic capital of the English Catholic diaspora when in 1568 William Allen founded a college for English students at Douai. The foundation of the college was, according to J. H. Pollen, S. J., the `commencement of the seminary movement, which, from very humble beginnings, grew to be the source of a powerful and permanent Catholic renaissance.' 12P art of that rebirth was demonstrated in the translation of devotional books, an industry made possible largely by the linguistic skills which were acquired at the foreign seminaries, colleges and novitiates which educated English Catholic exiles. It was almost certainly during his time at the English College in Rome, which he entered in 1609, that Henry Hawkins acquired the Italian that would later allow him to translate a work by Giovanni Pietro Maffei. ' 3 His tenure at St Omer equipped him to translate Jean Puget de 10P eter Guilday, English Catholic Refugees on the Continent 1558-1795 (London, 1914), p. 4. " Southern, Elizabethan Recusant Prose, p. 26; Guilday, English Catholic Refugees on the Continent, p. 9. 12J . H. Pollen, The English Catholics in the Reign of Queen Elizabeth (London, 1920), p. 244. 13S ee J. E. Secker, `Henry Hawkins, S. J., 1577-1646: a recusant writer and translator of the early seventeenth century, ' Recusant History 11 (1971), , pp. 237-252. 115 la Serre.1 4 The work assigned to the peripatetic translator and mathematician Richard Gibbons, S. J. brought him, over his long career, to Coimbra, Valladolid, Loreto, St Omer, Douai, and Louvain where he was sent ̀ to unravel mathematics for the students, and carry out other duties and labours usual in the Society. ' 15 The necessity of learning Spanish or French or Italian simply in order to communicate with the native population with whom the exiles interacted on a daily basis - and for decadesi n many cases - was perhaps the single most important contribution to the phenomenon which was the endless translation of Catholic devotional literature into English. When an English exile took a foreign devotional book and put it in the vernacular he did so to make the book accessible to an audience who, for the most part, could never have been able to read it in its original form. This was, for example, advertised to be the purpose of I. M. 's translation of a work by Alonso of Madrid, the title of which was rendered A brief method or way of teaching all sorts of Christian people how to serve God in a most perfect manner, written first in Spanish by a religious man named Alphonso [sic]. And reduced out of Latin into English in a manner... for the easier understanding and capacities of the simpler sort. 16 The simpler sort, in this case, included the vast majority of men and women for whom reading the Spanish original was not an option. George Keynes offered his translation of 14T he English titles are Fuga Saeculi. Or the holy hatred of the world... Written in Italian and translated into English H. H,. (Paris, 1632), STC 17181 and The sweet thoughts of death and eternity (St Omer, 1632) STC 20492. 15F rancis Edwards, S. J., ed. The Elizabethan Jesuits: `Historic Missionis An ligc ame Societatis Jesu (1660)' of Hem More (Chichester, 1981), p. 22. Thomas McCoog, English and Welsh Jesuits, part II (London, 1995), pp. 190-191. 16I . M., trans., A brief method or way of teaching all sorts of Christian people how to serve God in a most perfect manner, written first in Spanishb y a religious man named Alphonso [sic]. And reduced out of Latin into English in a manner...f or the easier understandin and capacities of the simpler sort (England, secret press, 1602-1605), STC 353.5. 116 The Roman Martyrology to `the Catholics of the Church of England' declaring `it hath been thought convenient that our English Nation also should be no longer deprived of what others have already enjoyed, to their great profit. ' 17 Lawrence Platt, translator of Jean Pierre Camus' The spiritual director disinteressed [sic] explained to the `Catholic reader,' `becauseh is [the book's] language is unknown to many, I will be his interpreter, to the end his zeal for souls may shine to all, and such fruit be reaped of his wholesome and charitable counsels, as is desired.' 18 There are numerous other examples of this expression of religious loyalty combined with English patriotism when the translator reveals his motive for his endeavour, work which he often considered a type of devotion itself. The modern opinion which considers translated devotional literature as a quick and easy alternative to original composition, is actually a reflection of the contemporary attitude towards translation; not that it was an easier occupation, but that it was somehow a less noble one. The student of sixteenth and seventeenth century devotional literature cannot help but notice the enormous contribution made by the translator to the Catholic cause. But did the translator? How valuable did the translator consider his or her efforts to be? First, it must be acknowledged that translators were adopting a contemporary convention when they made their almost mandatory protests of humility in the prefatory remarks. Custom required that the translator advertise the inadequacy of his labours, and no one would have been surprised to find the translator asking the reader's forgiveness for his unworthy efforts. 17G eroge Keynes, trans., The Roman Martyrology (St Omer, 1627), STC 17533, sig. *1r. 117 Translations were, after all, inherently flawed. They were awkward and contrived and, it was generally agreed, unable to manage the fine nuances or the subtle distinctions which filled the pages of devotional books. Thomas Everard was expressing the opinion at least of the literary elite, if not the reading public, when he declared, ̀ I know full well that translations in this our fastidious age are little regarded and that highly prized which cometh hot out of the forge of man's own wit and invention. ' 19 Richard Shacklock, when translating Cardinal Stanislaus Hosius, gives perhaps the most eloquent testimony concerning the role of the translator - or at least how that role was commonly perceived - in maintaining the faith of English Catholics: I thought it appertain to me, who am (I trust) a member of Christ his Catholic Church, to do as much as in me lieth, that the broken and battered walls of it may be re-edified. And whereas it passed my strength to bring any principal beams, any corner stones, by writing new works of mine own invention, rather than I would be an idle looker-on, I thought it my part to be an inferior labourer, to bring mortar, to carry sand, and as it were bear baskets, by translating some worthy work of some other writer. 20 Thomas Everard, however, was eager to defend his occupation and certainly realised that the contribution that he and his colleagues were making towards the maintenance of Catholicism by translating devotional texts was as great as the one made by those who were composing them. He realised that his task and the task of the devotional author were different, but that both of them were vital to the cause. For his part he appreciated that translators occupied an 18L awrence Platt, trans., The spiritual director disinteressed [sic]. According to the spirit of B. Francis of Sales (Paris, 1633), STC 4554, sig. Aii1. 19E verard, Of the eternal felicity of the saints, sig. A4`. 20R ichard Shacklock, trans., An Epistle of the reverend father in God Hieronimus Osorius bishop of Arcoburge in Portugal (Antwerp, 1565), STC 13888, sig, A2`. 118 essential position in the literary movement of English Catholicism; he realised that books, however wonderful they were or however brilliant their authors, were useless unless they could be read: Let those men whom God and their own endeavours have enriched with such high talents happily employ them unto the good of God's church, I am not emulous of their due reputation, and deserved praise gained thereby. I content myself with the lowly title of a poor translator, as one not being able to perform more...N evertheless, to apologise and speak of defence of translators, I may be bold to say that they in some sensem ay be said to be authors of other men's works by them translated, seeing they are Authors and Causers, why divers (ignorant in the Latin tongue) through benefit of their translations do participate of the contents of the said works translated, of which otherwise they would never have taken notice. 21 If translated works were considered to be inherently inferior to original composition, the situation was exacerbated in this case by the perceived inadequacy of English in particular, a deficiency recognised not only by foreigners, but by the English as well. He was certainly reflecting the sentiment of his own age and an earlier one when the seventeenth-century poet Edmund Waller lamented, `to write in English is to write in sand.' 22 If the language of a text could be compared with clothing, as so very often it was, then English was modest apparel indeed; it was rough and unrefined, the vulgar tongue in every senseo f the word. 23 The Jesuit Richard Gibbons 21E verard, Of the eternal felicity of the saints, sig. A4`. 22C ited in J. E. Secker, `Henry Hawkins, S. J., 1577-1646: A recusant writer and translator of the early seventeenth century, ' RH, 11,1971, p. 240. 2' Anthony Batt referred to his translation of St Bernard as ̀ This great saint of France vested in English robes. ' A hive of sacred honeycombs containing most sweet and heavenly counsel (Douai, 1631), STC 1922, sig. *2`. R. F. called his translation of The Psalter of the B. virgin Marv `This little but golden book, commended both by patronage of one of the greatest queens in Europe (to whom it was first presented in French attire). ' (St Omer, 1624), STC 17542.7 sig. A2`-v. Edward Coffin translated Bellarmine's Art of dying well telling his dedicatee `I present you with a stranger's labour in English attire. '(St Omer, 1619), STC 1839, sig. *2'. The publisher of Alfonso Rodriguez' A short and sure way to heaven, and present happiness, 119 dedicated the Meditations upon the mysteries of our holy faith to `the right worshipful, virtuous and devout Lady the Lady Luysa de Carvaial' calling the work `this child born in Spain your native soil, fertile of such worthy wights and virtuous imps, being clod in English attire, though not in courtlike fashion, as too... delicate for his grave education and religious pretence; but in ordinary suit. '24 When he translated a Spanish devotional book for an English audience, Abraham Ellis admitted that `I have freely bestowed my labour in turning it out of his own coat into an ill-shapen garment.' 25 Henry Hawkins in his translation of Giovanni Pietro Maffei's Le vite di XVII confessori reflected popular sentiment when he acknowledged the mediocrity of English and his own presumption in attempting to translate the work, but at the same time protested that it was nonetheless a valuable endeavour: ̀ Behold I put Maffaeus into your hands ....A nd I present him to you thus clad and revested in our English weeds, that he might now walk as familiar amongst us, as in his native known only as `I. C. ' informs the reader that `I chanced upon the work apparelled in English. ' (St Omer, 1630), STC 21144, sig. *2"; John Floyd calls his translation of Antonio de Molina's A treatise of the holy sacrifice of the Mass, and excellencies thereof `this infant of Spanish descent clad in English attire' (St Omer, 1623), STC 18001, sig. *2". `A. P. ' presents `thee here (Gentle reader) the ancient French father Vincentius Lirinensis, attired after English cut. ' (England, secret press, 1596-1597), STC 24748, sig. A2r; Thomas Fitzherbert, S. J., translator of The admirable life of St Francis Xavier informs his dedicatee, `You madam shall be a patroness to your patron, and a mother to your holy Father S. Francis Xavier, attired in this English habit, which I have made for him. ' (St Omer, 1632), STC 24140, sig. A3`); `C. A. ' hopes `that I have given you the same man still, though in an English habit; and though the manners be still changed, yet the matter of the books is the same it was. ' Holy pictures of the mystical figures of the sacrament of the eucharist. (Lancashire, 1619), STC 21022, sig. ¶ 4". Other analogies were used as well to describe the translator's activities. Stephen Brinkley dedicated his translation of Gaspare Loarte's The exercise of a Christian life to the Society of Jesus, asking them to `accept therefore, Reverend fathers and brethren, a bird of your own brood, plucked out of her natural plume and garnished with foreign feather. ' (England, secret press, 1579), STC 16641.5, sig. **ii". C. A., translator of The interior occupation of the soul followed a common convention by referring to his work as a child `This Book is so fit for thee, that I doubt not thou wilt... thank for having taught it to speak English. ' (Doaui, 1618), STC 5860, sig *4r. 24Richard Gibbons, trans., Meditations upon the mysteries of our holy faith (Douai, 1610), STC 20485, sig. a2`-'25 Abraham Ellis, trans., Spiritual exercises, very profitable for active persons desirous of their salvation (Mechlin, 1621), STC 17998, sig. A4". 120 vulgar he hath done: As properly our as theirs from whence he came.' 26 Jane Owen's An antidote against purgatory incorporates the work of Cardinal Bellarmine into the book `out of one of whose spiritual books I have translated a whole passagec oncerning this subject.' Comparing the book to the statue of King Nebuchadnezzar ̀ of which part was gold, part was silver, and part of a baser metal' she admits that the composition is of unequal quality: `So I am sure, that what is taken out of the Cardinal's writings in this my treatise, is perfect gold or silver; what is adjoined thereto by me, must (I willingly yield) endure the touch of the learned, to prove what metal it is. '27 English was inferior not only to Latin, but, it was agreed, to every other vernacular. It is no wonder, then, that translators so frequently begin their work with an apology and very often two: one to the author who is asked to excuse the halting and imperfect rendering of the text, and one to the reader who is inevitably deprived of the fruits of the always more eloquent original. 28 The apology is a common element in the culture of translated devotional literature. 29 The English Carthusian Abraham Ellis pleaded with `M. R. B. ' to 26H enry Hawkins, trans., Fuga saeculi. Or the holy hatred of the world. Containing the lives of 17. holy confessors of Christ, selected out of sundry authors (St Omer, 1632), STC 17181, sig, a4r"" 27T he book was published posthumously. Jane Owen, An antidote against purgatory. Or discourse, wherein is showed that good works, and alms deeds, performed in the name of Christ, are a chief means for the preventing, or mitigating the torments of purgatory (St Omer, 1634), STC 18984, sig. *3r"" 28W e do not know the name of the author of The art to die well. Or a brief and easy method, how to direct ones life, to a secure and happy end. Divided into three parts. By P. R. for his own particular comfort, and profit of such, as will take pains to use it (St Omer, 1626), STC 20585.5. The translator feared insulting him by his meagre efforts: `Now concerning the translation of the author, I am partly ashamed to express his name, for that I have not all together done him true justice, partly by deforming, in my rude phrase, his pure eloquence in so polite a language. ' Sig. A3r. 29T his example is typical: `Madam, yet I most humbly bow; craving pardon of your Grace that I present my homage so veiled as in a translation, not in a primary composition, best suiting with my duty and your most eminent worth.. .R eally I would have attemptedt he delivery of some notions wherewith as well my zeal, as also your gracess ingular virtues have prompted 121 whom he dedicated his translation of Antonio de Molina Spiritual exercises, very profitable for active persons desirous of their salvation, `If it give not your worship the content I could wish, I pray you impute not the fault to the no less devout than learned author, but to the presumptuous and unskilful translator; who perchance had spoiled a good countenance by putting on it an unshapely vizard. '3o The text, even in its reduced form, was nonetheless considered to be `very profitable' and anything that could profit Catholics at home was suitable material for translation. Clumsiness, modesty, or even incompetence could not be allowed to keep a worthy devotional book from reaching an audience who would otherwise never have had accesst o the text. Every attempt at translation was considered an act of presumption, but failing to attempt it, when so much was at stake and when so much good was potentially available to English readers, was certainly considered even more arrogant. An anonymous translator, aware of his limited skill in this regard, nonetheless brought his work to print for `I held it a default to prevent the good of many of my Nation, who by reading it in English might be partakers of the same consolation that I myself found in the translating of it, if I should keep it obscure in my own scribbled papers.' 31 The translator Henry Manfield me. But when I... perused this treatise (which I now dedicate to your excellency) made English; and found it consonant to what the height of my imagination could arrive, yea as well as agreeing, aptly according with your excellencies example, then was I acquitted, made no further search. ' John Hawkins, trans., The ransom of time being captive. Wherein is declared how precious a thing time is, how much he loseth that loseth it, & how it may be redeemed (Douai, 1634), STC 22937, sig. *2`-*3". It was dedicated to the Lady Katherine Duchess, Marchioness, and Countess of Buckingham. 30A braham Ellis, trans., Spiritual exercises,v ery profitable for active personsd esirous of their salvation (Mechlin, 1621), STC 17998, sig. A2"-A3'. 31A non., The art to die well, sig. A2". 122 acknowledged his lack of skill, but believed that what little talent was his should nonetheless be employed for the benefit of his compatriots: The goodness of the book I know will commend itself, my translation needeth your favourable acceptation. My excuse is my youth and want of learning. My commendation (if there be any) my forwardness in setting abroach my little skill for a common taste, till I be able to aspire unto better. Which lesson I learned of the noble poet Horace who telleth such young students as I am "Est quadam prodire tenus, si non datur ultra. " If we cannot do as well as we should, yet let us do as well as we can.3 2 And Henry Hawkins, admitting that his talents hardly compared witht the skill of the author's, nonetheless dared to put the work into English rather than deprive his compatriots of its benefits: `Wherein I supposet hat such as are acquainted with the genius of his neater style will rather challenge me for attempting it at all; then wonder I should fall so short, if they but consider how hard it is, to frame a perfect cope of so rare and genuine a prototype. Yet take it, gentle reader, as it is, from him who holds it a less ill the while to blush thereat, than the glory of such saints should be unknown among us.' 33 The apologetic and defensive posture which many translators adopted certainly tells us something about the contemporary attitude towards translations. But there is strong evidence to suggestt hat although in theory translations were not held in great esteem, in practice - in production and consumption - this was not at all the case. Indeed, the title pages and other preliminaries of translated works demonstrate that there was something inherently attractive in a foreign work now available to the English reader. 32H enry Manfield, trans., A manual of spiritual exercises (St Omer, 1625), STC 4603, sig. A3r-v 123 When a devotional book was translated it is almost always indicated in the title of the English version. A text originally written in a foreign language must have possesseda n allure that the domestic, home-grown text did not, an allure which expressed itself in that odd brand of English xenophobia which was so readily abandoned at the bookseller's door. 34 Why else would publishers flaunt the foreign origins on the title page when it could easily have been omitted? Devotional works were `composed in Italian and now lately translated into the English tongue,' `composed in Latin and newly translated into English' `translated out of the French corrected copy into English. ' Texts were `Englished' or `reduced into our English tongue. ' If a work had been translated into more than one language we often find this advertised in the title, as in Pietro's A dialogue of dying well. First written in the Italian tongue...t ranslated first into French and now into En lýish3. 5 Translations into English, then, possessedi f not an aesthetic appeal at least an exotic one. The real appeal must have been a practical one for the pragmatic men who were determined to make the devotional literature issuing from the Continent accessible to Catholics in England. Elegance sacrificed for accessw as always a forgivable offence. `I have learned by experience,' one translator remarked, `that no man is so well indued with the knowledge of foreign tongues, but when a matter of great importance is told him, the truth of 33H enry Hawkins, trans., Fuga saeculi. Or the holy hatred of the world, sig. a4r-". 34T he fascination with foreign literature, and the readiness with which the English were willing to suspend their hatred even for the Spanish are expressed in the 1608 translation by the Protestant Daniel Powell of Andrea de Soto's Redemption of lost time. In his dedication to Sir Edward Coke he remarks `if they be commended who bring us any commodities, drugs or delights, fashions or fruits from foreign countries, how can I be reproved, if after long pursuit in a strange land, I bring home a dish of rare dainties, profitable and necessary, a precious jewel richer than the gold of Ophir, the Redemption of lost time. ' (London, 1608), STC 20825, sig, A4"-A5.' 124 the which he is desirous to know certainly.. had rather have it declared in his . natural and mother tongue be it never so barbarous, than in a strange language be it ever so eloquent. '36 If substancer ather than form was the goal, then the translator did well to make the text as plain - and as accessible - as possible. Stephen Brinkley, who translated a work of the Jesuit Gaspare Loarte, dedicating it `To all those of the Reverend Society of the name of Jesus,' hoped that they would find that he had `translated that into plain, and not impure English, which was first written by a worthy Father of your company, in plain and right pure Italian. '37 John Wilson, manager of the English College press at St Omer, was also convinced that this was the best approach. In the dedicatory epistle to one of Thomas Everard's efforts he wrote: `The translation itself is purposely clad in a plain and humble style, as best suiting with so high and heavenly a subject as contemplation is; wherein over-fine & eloquent speech, is not so much to be regarded, as the doctrine itself, uttered in a more humble language.' 38 William Fitch declared that unadorned speech was particularly suited to devotional 35R ichard Verstegan, trans., A dialogue of dying well. First written in the Italian tongue, by the reverend Don Peter of Luca (Antwerp, 1603), STC 19815. 36R ichard Shacklock, trans., A most excellent treatise of the beginnings of heresiesi n our time, compiled by the Reverend Father in God Stanislaus Hosius_ Bishop of Worms in Prussia..T. ranslated out of Latin into English by Richard Shacklock M of Arts, and student of the civil laws, and entitled by him: The hatchet of heresies (Antwerp, 1565), STC 13888, sig. *iiv. 37S tephen Brinkley, trans., The exercise of a Christian life. Written in Italian by the Reverend Father Gaspar Loarte D. of Divinity... and newly translated into English by J. S. (England, secret press, 1579), STC 16641.5, sig. **ii`-v. Brinkley used the name `James Sancer'as an alias. It was this translation which Father Persons refers to in the preface of his The first book of the Christian exercise, which reference has caused so much confusion regarding the genesis of Persons' book. 38T he dedicatory epistle is signed I. W. for John Wilson, manager of the press at the English College in St Omer, but the translator is Thomas Everard. Meditations upon the mysteries of our faith. CorrespondingLto the three ways, purgative, illuminative, and unitive. Composed in Spanish by the Reverend Father Luis de la Puente of the Society of Jesus. Abridged and translated into English by a member of the sameS ociety (St Omer, 1624), STC 20487, sig. *3v'_*4r 125 literature: `In spiritual Rules and documents touching interior exercise, it fareth not as in other books which chiefly (or at least partly) tend to delight the ear in pleasant word, or move affection by pleasing terms, but by plainness of Documents and clearness of doctrine, and an easy and familiar means to practice the same.'3 9 English translators were not the only ones who took advantage of the corpus of Continental devotional literature, since a considerable number of the texts on which they based their translations were themselves translations of the original work. Consider Fulvio Androzzi's Certain devout considerations of frequenting the blessed sacrament with sundry other precepts and rules of direction first written in Italian; after turned into Latin; and now translated into English. An earlier translation was in fact first based on the Latin edition, but we are told in the `advertisement to the reader,' that when the translator submitted the work `to some of better judgement' it was thought best to start from scratch, using the original Italian edition precisely because of the inaccuracies of the Latin translation. 40 In 1609 William Kinsman and his brother Edward provided the English reader with a long-standing staple of the devotional diet when they produced a work entitled The lives of the Saints. Written in Spanish by Alfonso Villegas. Translated out of Italian into English, 39W illiam Fitch, The rule of perfection containinga brief and perspicuousa bridgement of all the whole spiritual life (Rouen, 1609), STC 10928, sig. 7ý". 40T homas Everard, trans., Certain devout considerations for frequenting the blessed sacrament (Douai, 1606), STC 632. `After that the translator had laboured to put into English this treatise of Frequenting the Blessed Sacrament of the altar, and had faithfully performed his duty herein,... it was found that the Latin copy which this translator had exactly followed, differed in many places from that which was first published by the author in the Italian tongue. It hath been therefore thought fitter to follow the first author's invention, than to publish the work according to the alteration of the translator: & for that cause many places are rejected in the Latin copy.... Let therefore the reader hereof suspend his judgement, if he find not a coherence betwixt the Latin & the English, and allow of that translation which followeth the first and truest copy. ' Sig. *8r-" 126 and conferred with the Spanish.4 1 In a less ambitious work William Cape made accessible The rule of the Holy Virgin S. Clare. Together with the admirable life, of S. Catherine of Bologna. 42 The work was originally written in Italian but the English text was based on a French translation of a Latin edition. 43 The title of a work translated by Henry Manfield reveals its provenience: A manual of spiritual exercises. Composed first in Spanish...t ranslated secondly into Latin.. .A nd now thirdly translated into English 44 . The Franciscan William Cape translated The chronicle and institution of the order of the seraphicall father S. Francis from the French translation of the Portugese original. 45 When we consider the complex linguistic migration of these devotional texts, with some English editions three times removed from the original text, we are left, of course, wondering how accurate the English text could have been.4 6 Faithfulness to the original text was an issue in which the translators were themselves keenly interested. In the Kinsman brothers' Lives of the Saints, the English product may or may not closely resemble the Spanish original, but the brothers at least wanted to give the impression that what they were producing was some type of critical edition, one undertaken with at least 41W illiam Kinsman, trans., The lives of the saints...w ritten in Spanish (Douai, 1614), STC 24731.5. 42W illiam Cape, trans., The rule of the Holy Virgin S. Clare. Together with the admirable life, of S. Catherine of Bologna (St Omer, 1621), STC 5350.7. 43A RCR II, p. 29. 44H enry Manfield, trans., A manual of spiritual exercises. Composed first in Spanish... translated secondly into Latin.. And now thirdly translated into English (St Omer, . 1625). 45W illiam Cape, trans., The chronicle and institution of the order of the seraphicall father S. Francis (St Omer, 1614), STC 11314.2. 46 Works were often translated into Latin from a vernacular as a first step in making a text more accessible. This was the casew ith Thomas Everard's Certain devout considerations of frequenting the blessed sacraments..W. ith sundry other precepts and rules of direction (Douai, 1606) which was ̀ written first by the author in the Italian tongue, and after for the general 127 an eye for accuracy. By 1621 the text had been ̀ diligently compared with the Spanish' and claimed to be `more correct and more exact than the former. '47 By 1628 it had been ̀ newly perused, corrected, amplified and adorned with many fair brazen images.' 48 When the New Testament appeared in 1582 it delighted in boasting that it had been ̀ translated into English, out of the authentical Latin, according to the best corrected copies of the same, diligently conferred with the Greek and other editions in divers languages.' 49 The Jesuit George Keynes promises his reader that he `bath exactly followed the last and most corrected edition, and by comparing divers translations together hath endeavoured faithfully to express the true and genuine senseo f the authentical Roman copy. ' 50 The efforts to which some translators were willing to go in order to produce an accurate translation, that is one closest to the original copy, is demonstrated by the practice of the indefatigable Tobie Matthew, one of the most industrious translators of Catholic devotional literature of the period. 5' good of many turned into the Latin: I thought it a thing most worthy my labour to spend some time in translating it into English. ' STC 632 *3". 47 lives , sig. William Kinsman, trans., The of saints. Written in Spanish by.. Alfonso Villegas (St . Omer, 1621), STC 24731 b. 48W iliam Kinsman, trans., The lives of saints. Written in Spanish by the R. F. Alfonso Villegas (Rouen, 1628), STC 24733. 49G regory Martin, trans., The New Testament of Jesus Christ, translated faithfully into English (Rheims, 1582), STC 2884. 50G eorge Keynes The Roman Ma rology according to the reformed calendar (St Omer, 1627), STC 17533, sig. *2r. 51T hese are the devotional works he translated: [St Augustine] The confessions of the incomparable doctor S. Augustine (St Omer, 1620), STC 910; [St Augustine] The kernel or extract of the historical part of S. Augustine's confessions... taken out of that whole book, & severed from such parts as are obscure (Paris, 1638), STC 914; [Francisco Arias] A treatise of benignity (St Omer, 1630), STC 742.7; [Francisco Arias] A treatise of patience (St Omer, 1630), STC 743; [Juan de Avila] The audi filia, or a rich cabinet full of spiritual jewels (St Omer, 1620), STC 983; [Giuseppe Biondo] A relation of the death, of the most illustrious lord, Sig` Troilo Savelli, a baron of Rome (St Omer, 1620), STC 3134; [Alfonso Rodriguez] A treatise of humility (Rouen, 1631), STC 21145; [Alfonso Rodriguez] A treatise of mental prayer. With another of the presence of God (St Omer, 1627), STC 21148; [Alfonso Rodriguez] The two first treatises of the first part of Christian perfection... the one of them being entitled of the estimation and affection which we ought to carry to spiritual things_ .. And 128 He described his travails when he published in 1620 his translation of the Jesuit Giuseppe Biondi's pious account of the conversion of a member of the Roman nobility titled A relation of the death of the most illustrious lord, Sign Troilo Savelli, a baron of Rome. He tells his reader: This relation following hath been translated into divers languages though not at all into ours, nor yet so carefully into others out of the true original Italian as I could have wished. The differences between the copies which walk up and down the world are not great, saving that when there is question of truth I cannot find in my heart to let any difference ... to go for small. I have therefore taken both pains and pleasure to draw store of copies into my hand, and it hath not been without success. For if I had not laid hold upon the very first original which was written by the relator himself, I dare say that I am grown very near it & that it is precisely true. 52 Translation was evidence of the popularity of an author and of a text. But the popularity of an author or a text, and the multiplication of translations, often presented the potential translator with a new set of difficulties. As we will see in Chapter 6, one of the most translated devotional authors of the period was the Spanish Dominican Luis de Granada. He was popular not only in England, however, and the proliferation of his works in several languages presented the English translator with an additional challenge. The existence of so many variations of Granada's Libro de la oraciön y meditacon compelled Richard Hopkins to explain to his reader: For so much as the author of this book hath published at divers times several editions thereof in the Spanish tongue, and in the the other, of the perfection of our ordinary actions (St Omer, 1631), STC 21150.5. He was the editor of this translation: [Vincenzo Puccini] The life of the holy and venerable mother Suor Maria Maddalena de Patsi, a Florentine lady, & religious of the order of Carmelites (St Omer, 1619), STC 20483. 52T obie Matthew, trans., A relation of the death, of the most illustrious lord, Sig`. Troilo Savelli, a baron of Rome (St Omer, 1620), STC 3134, sig. Ali-A2'. 129 later editions hath from time to time very much and often corrected, altered, and augmented the same not only in manifold words, and sentences,b ut also in divers chapters, otherwise than in the former editions, that were printed in either Toledo, Salamanca, Lisbon, Antwerp, or in any other place before the year of our Lord 1567, I think it very convenient to give notice of it to the reader: and withall that in my translation I do follow the edition in the Spanish tongue printed at Antwerp by Christopher Plantin in the year of our Lord 1572. For I perceive that the French translation differeth in divers places from this best corrected edition of Plantin's: and so do likewise all the translations that I have seen in the Italian tongue printed in divers years at Rome, Naples, and Venice by Michael Tramezzino, Horatio Salviani, Jovanni Baptista Guerra, and Gabriel Jolito: until that now of late all the author's works have been newly translated into the Italian tongue, and printed in Venice by Gerogio Angelieri in the year of our Lord 1581.53 The translator of one of Cardinal Bellarmine's works was aware of one danger inherent in translation: an attempt to improve the text. He guarantees his readers that he has successfully avoided such a temptation: `touching my course held in translating this treatise' he says ̀ thou mayest be advertised that I have translated it faithfully and truly. ' It may have been the Martyr Alban Row, or perhaps the Benedictine Anthony Batt who translated St John Fisher's A treatise of prayer and of the fruits and manner of prayer printed in 1640,54 but whoever it was tells his readers that `My care hath been only to render him faithfully... as the argument requires, not giving him any other ornament than that of truth. '55 The editor of the 1635 edition of Anthony Browne's The life of the most holy father S. Francis, written and in one book compiled, by that famous learned man S. Bonaventure...N ow lately translated into our Spanish 53R ichard Hopkins, trans., Of prayer and meditation (Paris, 1582), STC 16907, sig. biiir. sa ARCR 11,274. 55A non., A treatise of prayer (Paris 1640), STC 10888, sig, Air. 130 tongue advertises that it was piety, not poetics, edification not charm nor grace that was Browne's objective when approaching the foreign text: For swelling words, lines puft b'affected skill, Let windy verbalists chase out else where. Our seraph's life, pen'd by a seraph's quill Aims to inflame the mind, not flatter the ear. So was't this great translator's drift, in all, To speak, not himself; but's original. 56 Richard Broughton was determined to inform the reader at the outset that what followed was a precise and faithful rendering of the text: A new manual of old Catholic Christian meditations and prayers faithfully collected and translated without any word altered or added: except in titles of chapters, citations of places and some few marginal annotations, for the most part taken forth of Holy Scriptures, or the holy Fathers within the first four hundred years of Christ. 57 Sir Thomas Hawkins, translator of Jeremias Drexelius' The angel- guardian's clock was a talented linguist and could have rendered a more smooth and elegant product had he been willing to sacrifice accuracy for art, but, he tells his reader [I] so confined myself to my author's sense,y ea even as much as I might possible, to his very words, that it will be no great wonder, if my language be less graceful in several respects. But for this I only plead, that as the contents aim not, so neither doth the translation aim to please or delight by smooth discourses, but to profit by the way of meditation. 58 56A nthony Maria Browne, trans., The life of the most holy father S. Francis, written and in one book compiled, by that famous learned man S. Bonaventure..N. ow lately translated into our Spanisht ongue (Douai, 1635), STC 3272, sig, e8". 57R ichard Broughton, trans., A new manual of old Catholic Christian meditations and prayers faithfully collected and translated without any word altered or added: except in titles of chapters citations of places and some few marginal annotations, for the most part taken forth of Holy Scriptures, or the holy Fathers within the first four hundred years of Christ (England, secret press, 1617), STC 3900, sig. A1`. 131 Anthony Hoskins faced a difficult situation when preparing a translation of St Bernard's Golden Epistle. The previous translation by Richard Whitford was `rough and rude' and required substantial correction: `I thought less labour to write new the whole, which I have done according to the meaning of the author, though not word for word: and divers places added some things following upon the same, to make the matter more sententious and full. ' And he asked the reader, `I beseechy ou take all unto the best, and pray for the old wretched brother of Sion, Richard Whitford. '59 George Cotton, translator of The contempt of the world and the vani thereof was satisfied to offer his reader a text which claimed nothing but fidelity to the senseo f the original: `If the letter itself be truly expressed, and the author's mind faithfully delivered, I have that I sought for, that is that which I travailed to do, both for my own honesty and the reader's satisfaction. ' 60 The anonymous translator of Peter Canisius' catechism was hesitant to have the work printed, since he believed there were already in the English tongue sufficient books of its kind to satisfy the demand. But his real concern was that an accurate translation of the original would fail to please the refined literary tastes of the reading public: `Besides that, ' he told a friend, `men's ears were so delicate nowadays, & their stomachs so curious, that they would give ear to nothing, except it were set out godly in coloured terms and should pleasantly and smoothly pass by the ear, 58T homas Hawkins, trans., The angel-guardian's clock (Rouen, 1630), STC 7234, sig. A3'-' 59A nthony Hoskins, trans., The following of Christ. Divided into four books...W hereunto is added the golden epistle of S. Bernard (England, secretp ress, 1615), STC 23988, sig. T5'. 60G eorge Cotton, The contempt of the world and the vanity thereof (Rouen, 1584), STC 10541, sig. A4.` 132 nor their queasy stomachs digest anything which were not ingenio perfectum & elaboratum industria. ' 61 Thomas Everard was likewise keen to point out that he avoided making those slight stylistic adjustments which were so tempting to a translator. Adorning the text here and there might provide an eloquence or elegance not present in the original, but one inevitably risked changing the senseo f the text as he did so. For Everard, refinement and style were always to be the servants of accuracy and precision. In his translation of the Cardinal's Of the eternal felicity of the saints he tells his reader that he or she can expect to see in the text more of Bellarmine than of Everard: Bellarmine's gravity scorns the use in his writings of any youthful oratory ... therefore I would have wronged him and his work in disvesting of its own purity and easinesso f style by new clothing it in forced and borrowed robes of speech. No, let Bellarmine be ever suffered to speak in the dialect of Bellarmine, that is gravely and persuadingly. 62 It was the `true sense' of the original, the author's intention, that the translator was obliged to capture, and it was successi n this exercise that was ultimately the mark of his talent and skill. The translator of an Italian devotional book at least attempted a pure rendition with his slender skill: The learned kind of commentators often give light unto their authors. Too frequently do translators eclipse diversely the genuine meanings of what they write. For the most part, at least, they are deficient in the rendering them, with a curious manner of expression and eake lustre. I cannot but misgive: that I much fail therein. Really I misdoubt that I am too far out, not nigh alas, the grace and purity of his style so worthy.... since 61T . I, . Certain necessaryp rinciples of religion, which may be entitled, A catechism containing all the parts of the Christian and Catholic faith...n ow amplified and Englished by T. I (England, secret press, 1578-1579), STC 4568.5, sig. ¶ iiiir". 62Everard, Of the eternal felicity of the saints, sig, A4'. 133 I well perceive that low are my talents: then not less that the task is hard for anyone, though of whatsoever rare endowments, to give an author his embellishments. But I will hope that in the version of this treatise into our own speech, I have rendered its true sense6. 3 Translators did what they could and employed what talents they possessedt o make their own contribution to the survival of English Catholicism. 64 Translating took time and effort, and, depending upon the subject matter, could even be a more arduous task than composition. Sir Tobie Matthew demonstrated what an difficult task it could be to work with material that was so profound as to be obscure, ̀ partly through the variety of lections, partly through the error of prints, and partly through the great difficulty in finding the true sense;w hich lay so low and deep as that the short arm of [his] understanding could hardly reach it. ' 65 Additionally, translators faced particular difficulties not experienced by authors of devotional works. One cannot be sure that the experience of the translator T. A. ' was unique or even uncommon when he or she admits in the preface to Louis Richeome's Holy pictures of the mystical figures of the most holy sacrament of the Eucharist that `I have not been apprentice to this trade of translating, nor did I ever breathe that stranger air of France; what I have got 63J ohn Hawkins, trans., A paraphrase upon the seven penitential psalms of the kingly prophet (Douai, 1635), STC 19910.5 sig., +2v-+3v. 64T ranslators like C. A. often expressed their patriotic motivation. Originally he translated Holy pictures of the mystical figures of the most holy sacrifice and sacrament of the Eucharist (England, secret press, 1619) for his own use, `but finding it so beneficial, made I available to others, ' who in turn urged him to have it printed: `I could not hold my hand off translating, though it were for my own private use, only to keep me both from idleness, and from employments of inferior condition. And after perceiving that, whereas I intended to make the translation only less private, some were instantly endeavouring to make it altogether public; for the worthy respect, I must ever bear to the first mover hereunto, and the general good of my own country, in the increase of piety and true devotion. ' STC 21022, sig. 4`. 65T obie Matthew, trans., The kernel or extract of the historical part of S. Augustine's confessions (Paris, 1638), STC 914, sig. Aiiii`-v. 134 herein is in my travails at home. '66 The anonymous translator of Gaspare Loarte's Meditations of the life and passion of our Lord and saviour Jesus Christ tells us that the book was now in the reader's hands partly as a result of his desire to practice his Italian: `By chance happening upon this little treatise written in the Italian by a devout person, as it appeareth, and one specially professed by rules of Christian life to the glorious name of Jesu: for my slim understanding in that tongue and further experience therein, I put on it an English habit of such coarse weaving as skill served me. '67 An anonymous translator of The art to die well tells his reader that he undertook the task `for the reformation of my own life' `as well for my private practice of the language wherein it was first written in Italian by a reverend spiritual father. '68 Prudentia Deacon confessed she had `not much skill in French' when she undertook to translate Francis de Sales.6 9T he translator of Andreas de Capila's A Manual of spiritual exercises, Henry Manfield, admitted that he was `mingling this pure wheat of devout and pious spiritual excitations, with the coarser grain of my human literature. ' 70 Translators on the Continent, however, shared with English authors the common problem of working with compositors and printers for whom English was the foreign tongue. Cardinal Allen begged the patience of the reader to overlook `small faults and others which in this difficulty of printing where our 66C . A., trans., Holy pictures of the mystical figures of the most holy sacrifice and sacrament of the Eucharist... translated into English for the benefit of those of that nation, as well Protestants as Catholics (England, secret press, 1619), STC 21022, p. 4. 67G aspareL oarte, Meditations of the life and passion of our Lord and Saviour JesusC hrist (England, secret press, 1596-1598), STC 16648, sig. A2r. 68A non., The art to die well, sig. A2". 69P rudentia Deacon, trans., Delicious entertainmentso f the soul (Douai, 1632), STC 11316, sig. a2r. 70M anfield, A manual of spiritual exercises,s ig. A2". 135 tongue is not understanded, must needs be committed. ' 71 Stephen Brinkley asked: `Pardon all faults good reader and bear with the printer of a vulgar tongue in a foreign country. ' 72L ikewise Thomas Heskyns apologises to the readers of his Parliament of Christ that the printers were `not skilful in our language' and that there was no one in the shop who could correct the errors before it was too late.7 3A nd if her own limited knowledge was not enough, Prudentia Deacon had employed a printer `who was a Walloon who understood nothing at all of English. ' 74E lizabeth Cary encountered the same difficulty: `Lastly, I desire the (gentle reader) to bear with the faults of the press: The printers being Walloons, and our English strange unto them it was incredible to see how many faults they committed setting. ' 75 John Hawkins asks his reader ̀ upon notice that the printer of this treatise understood no English, will easily pardon what errors he finds against orthography, the joining of two words together, or dis joining the same word into two, etc. '76 William Fitch left England in 1586, when he was twenty-four. He wrote his Rule of Perfection probably sometime in 1592 when he was in Italy. Editions appeared in French and English in 1609, and the English was almost certainly a translation from the French, a task which the author undertook himself It was not an easy task, not becauset he French proved difficult, but rather because he had grown so familiar with it that English was now the 71W illiam Allen, A defense and declaration of the Catholic Church's doctrine (Antwerp, 1565), STC 371, sig. A7". 72B rinkley, The exercise of a Christian life, sig. **ii". 73T homas Heskyns, The parliament of Christ (Antwerp, 1566), STC 13250, sig. 7". '' Deacon, Delicious entertainments of the soul, sig. a2`. 75E lizabeth Cary, trans., The reply of the most illustrious Cardinal of Perron, to the answer of the most excellent King of Great Britain... translated into English (Douai, 1630), STC 6385, sig. el'. 76J ohn Hawkins, A paraphraseu pon the sevenp enitential psalms,s ig., W. 136 foreign language: `My so long discontinuance of the tongue can afford no smooth discourse,' he warned his reader.7 7 Richard Mason, `the least of the friar minor recollects, ' found composing in English especially taxing after so many years of living abroad. He asks the reader of his A manual of the arch- confraternity of the cord of the passion instituted in the seraphical order of S. Francis, `Read it with as much charity and patience as it was composed &I dare warrant the profit; only you will find the style harsh and unpleasant, which I hope you will excuse, considering that almost from mine infancy I have been an exile from my native soil. ' 78 This book, though not a translation, will remind us that for some translators, grappling with the Spanish or Italian or French may not have been the most trying aspect of the enterprise, but trying to put it into English, a language which the translator may not have used on a regular basis for years or even decades,c ould be particularly taxing. Apart from the technical difficulties, even the most experienced linguist could be confronted with a devotional book whose subject matter was so deep and obscure that capturing its true, intended sensew as often nearly impossible. Again it is Tobie Matthew who warns his reader that the Confessions of St Augustine did not readily lend themselves to translation. Indeed, `the subject itself now and then is hard; and the saint doth often refer himself to somewhat which he had said long before; the not understanding thereof will deliver you over into a kind of wood, out of which because you cannot get with ease, it will make you unwilling to walk therein a second 77W illiam Fitch, The rule of perfection (Rouen, 1609), STC 10928, sig. a7`-". 137 time. '79 Sir Tobie realised that it is hardly the task of the translator to render an inaccessible foreign text into an equally unfriendly English one. He solved the problem a few year later when the work appeared with the revealing title: The kernel or extract of the historical part of Saint Augustine's confessions; together with all the most affectuous passagest hereof; taken out of that whole book, and severed from all such parts as are obscure.8 0 In this case, uncompromising fidelity to the original text, to context and completeness, was clearly not his chief concern: a word-for-word translation of the author would have been pointless and would have provided not the least spiritual benefit for the English Catholics deprived of spiritual care. Spiritual benefit was, of course, the chief motivation for every translation of a devotional book. But some religious benefit could be achieved by producing orthodox translations to act as ̀ counter-poisons' against the heretical editions of devotional books which were circulating in England and which produced in the English clergy on the Continent no little anxiety. We shall see in Chapter 6 how Protestant editors regularly adapted Catholic texts to suit a Protestant audience and accommodate Protestant theology. Thomas Rogers, for example, `purified and adorned' Augustine's Precious book of heavenly meditations81 and `purged from divers superstitious points' the saint's Book of prayers.8 2 William Watts added marginal notes to Augustine's 78R ichard Mason, A manual of the arch-confraternity of the cord of the passion instituted in the seraphical order of S. Francis (Douai, 1636), STC 17618.5, sig, W. 79T obie Matthew, trans., The confessions of the incomparable doctor S. Augustine, translated into English. Together with a large preface which it will much import to be read over first (St Omer, 1620), STC 910, sig, A1". 80M atthew, The kernel or extract of the historical part of Saint Augustine's confessions. 81T homas Rogers, trans., A precious book of heavenly meditations, translated, purified and adorned, by T. Rogers (London, 1581), STC 944. 82T homas Rogers, trans., S. Augustine's manual. Containing special and piked meditations and godly prayers (London, 1581), STC 938. 138 Confessions83 and his Enchiridion to Laurence had been `repurged...o f many faults. ' 84 The Benedictine translator Anthony Batt was motivated to translate Augustine less by a desire to foster devotion among his fellow country men and women, than by his duty to provide them with a translation of the saint that was not corrupted with heresy. The Protestant translator Thomas Rogers had committed the unforgivable sin of turning an orthodox text into a tool to promote error. `Instead of giving the devout reader the true works of S Augustine, ' Batt complained, Rogers `took upon him to mangle and maim them in all such places, as the holy doctor had written contrary to the Protestantical doctrine, forcing him to speak like an heretic in all points of prayer unto Saints, merit of good works, suffrages for the faithful departed, and such other, as ordinarily do occur in Spiritual exercises; in which Saint Augustine most plainly and clearly, speaking as a true Roman Catholic, this saucy controller M Rogers, either perverteth his words to Puritanism, or else leaveth them out. ' When Augustine speaks of the Lord's passion, Batt grumbled that Rogers ̀ leaveth all that out when it is most evident that they were written by S Augustine... with a far deeper and cheerful judgement, then ever can be in the brains of an heretic. ' 85 This was a natural reaction, even for translators like Batt who only dealt in the genre of devotion. They were, after all, religious exiles who were reminded daily of the sufferings of English Catholics under what they considered to be an heretical and unjust regime; it was impossible to distance themselves from the political circumstances that 83W illiam Watts, trans., Saint Augustine's confessions translated and with some marginal notes illustrated (London, 1631), STC 912. 84A . Alcock, ed., Saint Augustine his enchiridion to Laurence (London, 1607), STC 921.5. 85A nthony Batt, trans., A heavenly treasureo f comfortable meditations in three treatises of his meditations, soliloquies, and manual (Douai, 1621), STC 933.5, sig., a11`. 139 had forced their exile. As we will see in Chapter 4, `rising above' the political circumstances that enmeshedt he English Catholic Community was impossible even for the most otherworldly author, nor did the devotional books they produced emerge from a political vacuum. The personal experiences of the translator, his or her background, training and motivation, all of these must have played a significant role in the development of the vast corpus of devotional books that were translated for English Catholics. Those who undertook the task of translations were, predictably enough, for the most part religious men. Benedictines, Franciscans and even Carthusians applied their linguistic skills to the service of their persecuted co- religionists at home. But it was the Jesuits who had the greatest influence on the devotional life of the English Catholic community. Father Person's The first book of the Christian exercise appertaining to resolution more commonly called the Book of Resolution or the Directory, frequently referred to in this thesis, itself had eight editions by 1640 and its impact on the devotional scene in England was likely unparalleled. The Directory was, however; more exceptional than typical. Indeed, original works by English Jesuits were a relatively rare phenomenon. English Jesuits, unlike their Continental confreres, excelled not in the authorship of spiritual tracts, but in the translation of them. Between the years 1615 and 1640 the Jesuits were responsible for producing eighty works of devotion in the vernacular, certainly an impressive figure. But what makes an even greater impression is the fact that seventy-five percent of these works were translations. 86 The English Jesuits' contribution to the polemical literature of the English Counter- 140 Reformation was considerably more original, but the contribution they made to the devotional scene was as editors and translators, not as authors. One must distinguish `English Jesuits' here becausef oreign members of the Society of Jesus were responsible for a significant amount of the original devotional material that made its way into England, or more precisely, into English. Jesuits produced a large quantity of devotional material. English Jesuits did not: instead, they translated it. On the whole English Jesuits translated those pieces of piety and devotion that their Continental confreres were producing in such abundance. Jesuits translated Jesuits, promoting as they did so not only prayer and piety, but the influence of the Society of Jesus on English Catholic devotion. `[T]he Society of Jesus,' Evennett remarked, `while retaining its own peculiar exclusiveness of spirit as a "close corporation, " paradoxically enough succeededi n impressing so much of its own principles, outlook and ethos on so many sides and parts of Catholic life and organisation. ' 87 This was certainly true in the arena of devotion. In a letter dated 2 June 1601, Father Henry Garnet wrote to Father Robert Persons that he had translated into English several ̀ little books of our Society. ' 88 He may have been referring to his translation of Vincenzo Bruno's Meditations on the passion or Jacobus Ledisma's The Christian doctrine in manner of a dialogue between the master and the disciple.. .N ow lately translated into English, for the use of Children, and other unlearned Catholics or Luca Pinelli's Brief meditations of the most 86T homas H. Clancy, `Spiritual publications of English Jesuits,' RH, 19 (1988), p. 427. 87E vennett, ̀ Counter-Reformation spirituality, ' in The Counter-Reformation, D. Lubeke, ed., (Oxford, 1999), pp. 63. 88A . F. Allison, 'The writings of Fr. Henry Garnet, S. J. (1555-1606), RH, 1 (1951), pp. 8-9. 141 holy sacrament and of preparation for receiving the same, a work which the Jesuit Thomas Everard, too, was to translate twenty years later. 89 The Jesuit translator Richard Gibbons occasionally departed from the practice, translating non-Jesuits like Granada and Charles Borromeo, but for the most part he concerned himself with propagating the devotional influence of the Society by translating Robert Bellarmine, Vicenzo Bruno, Luca Pinelli, and Luis de la Puente. In doing this Garnet, Gibbons and their confreres were following a pattern of translation shared by other members of the regular clergy. Although there are many exceptions to this practice - or even policy - the regular clergy ordinarily translated works by members of their own orders and often advertised this association in the title. And so we find for example this work: Spiritual exercises very profitable for active persons desirous of their salvation composed in Spanish by a venerable father Don Antonio de Molina monk of the Charterhouse of Mirastores translated into English by one of the same Order of the house of Shene. The formula that appears on so many title pages, ̀ translated into English by one of the same Society, ' indicated that both the author and the translator were Jesuits. When the Benedictine Anthony Batt undertook translation, it was invariably of works by a monastic author like St Bernard and his A hive of sacred honeycombs containing most sweet and heavenly counsel or Johan von Tritheim `monk of the Holy Order of S. Benet; ' or on a monastic subject, as with his translation of St Gregory's The second book of the dialogues which gives an account of the life and miracles of the founder of Batt's order, St 89A fter 1601 Garnet translated the Jesuits Francisco Arias and Luca Pinelli. 142 Benedict. 90 Saint Augustine's A heavenly treasure of comfortable meditations faithfully translated into English may at first appear to fall into neither category, but Father Anthony uses a very lengthy preface to the work to recite the history of the Benedictines and their uninterrupted contribution to the religious life of England from the arrival of Augustine of Canterbury `until this present age.' 91 The sons of St Francis were just as loyal to their order. The English Franciscan Giles Willoughby translated only one book, a work of the Spanish Franciscan Peter of Alcäntara, A golden treatise of mental prayer with divers spiritual rules and directions. 92 Richard Mason, known in religion as Angelus of St Francis, produced in 1635 The rule and testament of the seraphical father S. Francis which was a translation of two Latin works. 93T he friar William Stanney composed only A treatise of penance, with an explication of the rule and manner of living, and of the brethren and sisters, of the third order of S. Francis; commonly called the order of Penance but added a translation of `the epistle and annotations upon the rule, of... Fa. Peter Gonzales, Commissarie General.' 94 Of the endless supply of hagiographies available to the sixteenth century translator, the Franciscan Arthur Bell chose to make available in 90A nthony Batt, trans., A hive of sacred honeycombs containing most sweet and heavenly counsel (Douai, 1631), STC 1922 and The second book of the dialogues of S. Gregory the Great (Douai, 1638), STC 12350. See David Rogers, `Anthony Batt: a forgotten Benedictine translator, ' in G. A. M. Janssens and F. G. A. M. Aarts, eds. Studies in Seventeenth-Century English Literature, History and Bibliography (Amsterdam, 1984), pp. 179-194. 91A nthony Batt, trans., A heavenly treasure of comfortable meditations (Douai, 1621), STC 933.5. 92G iles Willoughby, A golden treatise of mental prayer, with diverse spiritual rules and directions (Brussels, 1632), STC 19797. 93R ichard Mason, trans., The rule and testament of the seraphical father S. Francis (Douai, 1635), STC 11314.4. Mason was also the author of A manual of the arch-confraterni of the cord of the passion instituted in the seraphical order of S. Francis... By Br. Angelus Francis, the least of the Friar Minors Recollects (Douai, 1636), STC 17618.5. 143 English only The history, life, miracles, ecstasiesa nd revelations of Sister Joan, herself a Franciscan tertiary. But this familial loyalty and devotion is no more apparent than with the Jesuits and no more obvious among them than in the work of the Society's most industrious English translator. Thomas Everard was born in Suffolk on 8 February 1559/60, probably to Catholic parents. At some point as a young man he had received the Spiritual Exercises from Father John Gerard, S. J. the latter being `a completely convinced devotee and very painstaking. '95 He entered the Society of Jesus at Tournai on 3 June 1593, professing his first vows a year later in Arras. Following his ordination in 1592 he occupied a number of positions in the Society at various houses on the Continent, including minister, procurator, admonitor, consultor, prefect of rooms and confessor.9 6I f his bibliography is complete, and there is reason to believe that it is not, it appears that he began translating - at least translating works intended for the press - sometime before 1606 when the earliest of his extant translations appeared.9 7 He was sent to the English Mission in 1603 or 1605 and may have translated his earliest work while there.9 8 His last works appeared five years after his death in 1633; they were translations of Cardinal 94W illiam Stanney, A treatise of penance, with an explication of the rule, and manner of living, of the brethren and sisters, of the third order of S. Francis (Douai, 1617), STC 23212. 9s Francis Edwards, ed., The Elizabethan Jesuits: `Historia Missionis Anglicanae Societatis Jesu (1660)' of Henry More (London, 1981), p. 313. 96F or the career of Thomas Everard, see Foley, Records of the English Province of the Society of Jesus,i i, pp. 399-408 and vii, pp. 234-235; and Thomas McCoog, English and Welsh Jesuits, 1555-1650, part I (London, 1994), p. 163 and A. F. Allison, `An early seventeenth Century translator: Thomas Everard, S. J. A study of the bibliographical evidence,' Recusant History, 2 (1956) pp. 188-215.. 97F r More related in his Historia Missionis Anglicanae Societatis Jesu (1660) `Although our Father Alegambe compiled quite a long list of [Everard's translations], there are more of his surviving works which have not yet been published. ' Edwards, The Elizabethan Jesuits, p. 314. Alegambe's Bibliotheca Scriptorum Societatis lesu was printed in Antwerp in 1643. 98T homas McCoog, English and Welsh Jesuits, 1555-1650,p art 1 (London, 1994), p. 163. 144 Bellarmine's Of the eternal felicity of the saints and his Of the seven words spoken by Christ upon the cross.9 9 Father Everard translated at least twelve books, some of which appeared in several editions and which he himself may have revised. In 1617, around the middle of his career as a translator, he put into English Albertus Magnus' The paradise of the soul but apart from this work by such an eminent Dominican saint, he was never to venture beyond the Society to which he belonged for devotional material to make available to English Catholics. And so he translated the Jesuits Cardinal Bellarmine, Fulvio Androzzi, Francis Borgia, Francesco Arias, Ignatio Balsamo, Richard Haller, Luca Pinelli and Luis de la Puente. To modern observers interested in the recusant scene Thomas Everard is the busy and productive translator of devotional books. Observers closer to that scene, however, would have known him as the missionary, the procurator, the confessor and the `admonitor. "00 Everard, like many involved in the production of this prohibited literature, never acknowledged his contribution on the title page and so the reader of his translations was not aware of the Jesuit's contribution to English Catholic devotional life. In fact, his activity as a translator only merits the equivalent of a footnote in Father More's 1660 account of his life: `The small portion of life left over from apostolic toil he spent in translating spiritual books from various languages.' 101T homas 99T homas Everard, trans., Of the eternal felicity of the saints (St Omer, 1638) STC 1841 and Of the seven words spoken by Christ upon the cross (St Omer, 1638) STC 1842. 100F ather Everard was sent to the mission again in 1617, but he was betrayed and imprisoned for three years. In 1620 he was exiled, but returned to England only to be sent to prison again. Of his later years Father More said `he could scarcely read, or even move about thanks to weakness of limbs and eyes. When there was none in the house with whom he could converse, he was accustomed to wile away his loneliness by the continual recitation of the rosary and other prayers, especially the Jesus Psalter, which he used from boyhood. ' Edwards, The Elizabethan Jesuits, p. 314. 10E1d wards, The Elizabethan Jesuits,p . 314. 145 Everard's career reminds us that translation was a part-time endeavour, often undertaken while one performed his other duties related to the English mission. Men like Everard, who translated devotional works for the spiritual comfort of their persecuted co-religionists at home, were well aware of the benefits that their works could produce. Indeed, translating devotional texts became one of the most important endeavours of the English mission. Considering the number of texts that were translated, the activity must have been considered - despite the self-deprecating protests of the translator - one of the most advantageouse nterprises that one could undertake for the spiritual welfare of English Catholics. Translating broke down a barrier and provided accesst o a text which had been unapproachable before the translator applied his skill. Now meditations, once shrouded in darkness, had been brought into the light; hidden mysteries of the spiritual life, once encoded in a foreign tongue, had been made clear; devotions which had been inaccessible and unintelligible were now incorporated into what was left of the English Catholic community and its spiritual culture. George Cotton, translator of Diego D'Estella's Contempt of the World and the vanity thereof, understood the potential impact a `mere translator' could have on the spiritual lives of innumerable others. He says in his dedication: After I had perused and in mine own opinion conceived a special liking of [The Contempt] I fell into some desire with myself to have it made common to certain of my friends and well-wishers...: And becauseI could not have the effect of my desire, nor they, the fruit of that good, I wished them, except it were made communicable by some man's travail and industry in reducing it out of the Spanish and Italian language, (wherein it was first written) into our vulgate and mother tongue. I 146 thought good, since I wanted not good will, and thereto had store of good leisure, being at that time secluded from all company (rather than leave so good a work undone, that might tend to the benefit of many) to adventure what I could do myself therein. '02 If the advantageso f translating devotional texts were so apparent, more obvious still should have been the spiritual benefits that could be gained from translating that most spiritual of books, the one that was in fact the very fount of the Christian spiritual life. But the benefits of translating the Scriptures were anything but obvious to the men involved in the English mission. On the contrary, translating the Word in a world of religious upheaval -a situation caused by differing interpretations of the text - was itself a matter which occasioned the greatest anxiety. The Scriptures were, of course, recognised by the English Catholic leadership as the perfect and complete spiritual text. Lay men and women too, were anxious to possesst hem, not as a Latin artefact, an ornament to be displayed in the main room or only as a volume in which to record the significant events in the life of one's family, but as a real and effective instrument to nourish one's spiritual life. Like their Protestant neighbours, Catholics desired the vernacular Scriptures so that they could have daily access to the foundation of their faith, not the word of Granada or Garnet or the other spiritual luminaries of their day, but the Word of God himself. This desire caused considerable consternation on the Continent. The problem, as William Allen, Gregory Martin and their colleagues saw it, was that there was no shortage of vernacular editions of the Scriptures available to the potential 102G eorge Cotton, trans., The contempt of the world and vanity thereof (Rouen, 1584), STC 147 consumer, Catholic as well as Protestant.1 03T homas Hill, the author of A plain path-way to heaven. Meditations or spiritual discourses and illuminations upon the Gospels of all the year, for every day of the week, on the text of the Gospel expressed the concern that Catholics who were reading English translations of the Bible did not know `whether they be truly translated or no. ' 104 The call for Scriptures in the vernacular had obviously been one of the major and controversial innovations of the Reformation, and the Catholic response was naturally to distance itself from any practice which would have even the appearanceo f conceding to the criticism of the Protestants. But Catholics were also anxious to clarify the matter and to present the Church's true position on the use of the vernacular. Edward Maihew, in his A paradise of prayers challenges the opinion propagated by the Protestants: Our adversaries do often accuset he Catholic church that it binds all sorts of people to pray in the Latin tongue: but it is a false slander; for it bindeth none to pray, but such as through holy orders received , or some such extraordinary cause, are bound to say some ecclesiastical Breviary or the like. All lay folks generally according to the common doctrine of the church, may pray in their vulgar tongue, yea such prayers are not only tolerated, but highly commended, especially if such as so pray understand not the Latin. Neither is their any law or bond which bindeth them under sin to pray in Latin. 105 The assumption inherent in the idea of translated Scriptures was, of course, that those who could read them had greater accesst o the Word of God, and 10541, sig. a2`. 103L ucy E. C. Wooding, Rethinking Catholicism, pp. 184-192. 104T homas Hill, Nine rocks to be avoided, of those which sail towards the port of perfection (Douai, 1600), STC 6181.7, sig. A5". 105E dward Maihew, A paradise of prayers and meditations; gatheredo ut of divers authors (Douai, 1613), STC 17197, sig. ***6". 148 therefore to God himself. Those who relied on the priest and on his sermons to interpret the Scriptures were, logically, at a considerable disadvantage. Translating the Scriptures, then, would be admitting that Catholic practice had for centuries withheld some spiritual benefits from the faithful, and conversely, that Protestants were in a more favourable position to understand and carry out the will of the Deity. The Catholic author Thomas Hill defended the ancient practice, admonishing Catholics to `think so charitably of the pastors and governors of the Churches that if they permit them not the lay people to read the scriptures in their mother tongue it is for their greater good, for better government of the church and greater honour of God, and not for fraud to deceive their souls for which they most dearly answer.' 106 This, then, was the distressing state of affairs: the English Bible was readily available to those who could afford it; it had been for decades. By the time of the publication of the Rheims New Testament in 1582, scores of editions of the Protestant Scriptures were available to English readers, nor was 106T homas Hill, A plain pathway to heaven. Meditations or spiritual discourses and illuminations upon the Gospel of all the year, for every day of the week, on the text of the Gospels (Douai, 1634), STC 13468.5, sig. D4"-D5'. Translation also threatened to undermine the acknowledged superiority of Latin. No vernacular could compare with its beauty, authority, and universality. But the growing number of translated religious works could, it was feared, threaten that superiority if Latin were disdained as the inaccessible language of the learned elite rather than the universal and authoritative language of the Church. The 1615 edition of The Primer or office of the blessed Virgin Mary certainly gives the impression that some advance had been made in abandoning the Latin all together: `This office of our B. Lady being with licence of superiors to be printed in English alone, after the example of French and Flemish, who have it so in their language: it was thought fit not to bind the printer to follow rigorously the late edition in Latin & English: but to renew the whole work & make it as it were a new translation, which hath been performed in this manner. ' (STC 16096, sig. A2`- A3`). Orazio Torsellino tried to stress the pre-eminent position of Latin in his dedication to Cardinal Aldobrandi in a work later translated by Thomas Price: `Neither must any marvel why we write this history in Latin, for they err (for some's leave be it spoken) and measure the thing rather by the love which they bear to their native tongue, than by the truth itself, if any think that more fruit of a history may be received by this our late and Tuscan language, than by the old and Latin tongue. For the Tuscan tongue doth not much pass the bounds of Italy itself... but the Latin tongue doth go far and near, almost through all peoples and nations, that the Roman language may extend further than in times past the Roman Empire did. ' The history of our B. Lady of Loreto. (England, secret press, 1608), STC 24141 sig. **7r. 149 the consumer required to be a Protestant to purchase one. The number of editions issuing from the legitimate press testifies not only to the importance which Protestant theology placed on the Word, but also to an enormous popular demand for the vernacular Scriptures. 107 Desire for the Scriptures was one thing, and Allen and the other leaders might well have ignored the clamour among English Catholics for vernacular editions. But they could not ignore the fact that Catholics were reading infected versions of the Bible; warnings, pleadings, and prohibitions from Douai were entirely ineffective in this regard. The idea of a Catholic, English Bible was born not out of a desire to increase accesst o the Word, but of a desire to limit accesst o heretical editions by offering an orthodox alternative. Writing to Cardinal Sirleto in 1580, Allen, Stapleton and Bristow explained: `If the ancient discipline still held in England, if as in other Catholic nations Church law and Church courts were still in force, if the English Bible were not already in general circulation in some debaseda nd corrupted form, I should never have asked for the Bible in the vernacular .... But the exact observance of the church law is no longer possible, and religion must be spread by reason and persuasion, not by law. ' 108 The opinion of Cardinal Allen, the inspiration behind the translation, may have been the one most commonly held: `For although it would be desirable that the sacred writings should never be translated in the vernacular nevertheless, since in these days either because of the spread of heretical opinions or for some other reason, even men of good will are apt to be inquisitive, and more over 107S ee the STC 2063-2346 for evidence of the continuing demand for English editions of the Bible. 150 there may arise the need for reading the scriptures in order to confute the adversaries it is more satisfactory to have a faithful Catholic translation, than that they should endanger their souls by using a corrupt one. ' 109 The Rheims New Testament was a response to the devotional aspirations - and spiritual restlessness- of the English Catholics and it was for many of them the most important and esteemedd evotional book which could be possessed.1 10 The publication of the New Testament in 1582, and the Douai Bible in 1609 were events for English Catholicism nothing short of momentous. Andrew Hilton, writing to Lancelot Boste on 1 November 1582, asked to be sent a copy of the New Testament for, he said, `I can neither eat, drink nor sleep until I see it. ' 11' The Bible was the quintessential spiritual book and was read by lay men and women for spiritual purposes. The irony here is that the Rheims New Testament was not primarily intended as a spiritual book: it was to serve as a `counter-poison' for the malignant editions which threatened to lure more Catholics away from sound doctrine and into the dark abyss of heresy. In the lengthy preface that the editor Gregory Martin attached to the text, he explains his motivation: We therefore having compassion to see our beloved countrymen, with extreme danger to their souls, to use only such profane translations, and erroneous men's mere fantasies, 108C ited in J. H. Pollen, `Translating the Bible into English at Rheims,' The Month, 140 (1922), pp. 146-147. 109C ited in Southern, Elzabethan RecusantP rose, p. 233. 110G regory Martin had completed both the New and Old Testaments at the same time, probably in 1581, but owing to a lack of funds, he was able to bring to press only the New Testament. English Catholics would have to wait until 1609 for the publication of the Old Testament. '1J. H. Pollen Unpublished Documents Relating to the English Martyrs, (London, 1908), p. 36. The New Testament had an unusually high print run of 5,000 copies. 151 for the pure and blessed word of truth, much also moved thereunto by the desires of many devout persons: have set forth for you (benign readers) the new Testament to begin withal, trusting that it may give occasion to you, after diligent perusing thereof to lay away at lest such their impure versions as hitherto you have been forced to occupy. 112 Martin's polemical bent, and his attitudes toward the Protestant editions of the Scriptures, is revealed in a work which he published in the same year as the New Testament: A discovery of the manifold corruptions of the holy Scriptures by the heretics of our days, especially the English sectaries, and of their foul dealing herein, by partial and false translations to the advantage of their heresies, in their English bibles used and authorised since the time of the 113 schism. The Douai Diary records: On Oct. 16th [ 157 8] or thereabouts Mr Martin started translating the Bible into English in the hope of thus providing an antidote to the corrupt heretical versions which have been for so long a misery to nearly everybody in our own land. With a view to the speedy production of what will, we trust, prove an exceedingly useful work, he will translate two chapters a day; while to secure its exactitude Drs Allen and Bristow will read these carefully and, if need be, make any corrections which prudence may demand.' 14 Indeed, the issue of a vernacular translation of the Bible had been raised as early as 1567, when Thomas Harding and Nicholas Sander wrote to Cardinal Morone, the Cardinal Protector, seeking permission to begin the work as a response to the menacing situation caused by the heretical texts flooding 112G regory Martin, trans., The New Testamento f JesusC hrist, translated out of the authentical Latin (Rheims, 1582), STC 2884, sig. b2r. 113G regory Martin, A discovery of the manifold corruptions of the holy Scriptures by the heretics of our days (Rheims, 1582), STC 17503. 114T . F. Knox, ed. The first and Second Douay Diaries (London, 18780, p. 145. 152 England. 115 For William Allen, the translation of the Scriptures into the vernacular was a concession to the laity, but it also provided future missionaries with a powerful and necessaryt ool. He explained to his friend Dr Vendeville: We preach in English, in order to acquire greater power and grace in the use of the vulgar tongue, a thing on which the heretics plume themselves exceedingly, and by which they do great injury to the simple folk. In this respect the heretics, however ignorant they may be in other points, have the advantage over many of the more learned Catholics, who having been educated in the universities and the schools do not commonly have in command the text of scripture or quote it except in Latin. Hence when they are preaching to the unlearned , and are obliged on the spur of the moment to translate some passagew hich they have quoted into the vulgar tongue, they often do it inaccurately and with unpleasant hesitation, becausee ither there is no English version of the words or it does not then and there occur to them. Our adversaries on the other hand have at their fingers' ends all those passageso f scripture which seem to make for them, and by a certain deceptive adaptation and alteration of the sacred words produce the effect of appearing to say nothing but what comes from the bible. ' 16 In the future, equipped with their own orthodox version of the scripture and trained in the same, missionaries sent to battle heresy in England would prove themselves equal to the heretic who - even William Allen admitted it - handled the Scriptures with enviable aplomb. Translating the Scriptures in an age of religious upheaval could not be carried out without political ramifications. William Reynolds reported in the year after its publication `Every corner of the realm was searched for those books - the ports were laid for them, the Prince's proclamation was procured 115A . 0. Meyer, England and the Catholic Church under Queen Elizabeth (New York, 1967), p. 477. 153 against them; in the universities by sovereign authority colleges, chambers, studies, closets, coffers, and desks were ransacked for them... ancient men and students of divinity were imprisoned for having them. ' 117 As was the case on the Continent, in England the Bible had ceased to be a solely spiritual text as Protestants and Catholics sought within its pages the evidence which would validate their own practices and beliefs while at the same time condemning the errors of the enemy as mere human innovation or heresy. In addition to the lengthy preface, the volume also contains extensive annotations and marginalia, not intended to help in the critical interpretation of the text, but to reply to the challenges of the Protestants: `We have also set forth reasonable large annotations,' the editor explains, thereby to show the studious reader in most places pertaining to the controversies of this time both the heretical corruptions and false deductions, and also the Apostolic tradition, the exposition of the Holy Fathers, the decrees of the Catholic church and most ancient councils: which means whosoever trusteth not for the senseo f the Holy Scriptures, but had rather follow his private judgement or the arrogant spirit of these sectaries, he shall worthily through his own wilfulness be deceived. 118 Within the text itself, the editors pointed out to the reader the ample evidence that existed in scripture which supported Catholic beliefs and practices. ' 19 In the gloss on Matthew 2: 2 where the astrologers ask `Where is he that is born 116C ited in Southern, Elizabethan Recusant Prose, p. 232. 117C ited in Anstruther, The seminary priests, I, p. 221 118T he English College in Douai was forced to flee the city in 1578. The translation of the New Testament took place while the college was in exile in Rheims. The translation of the Old Testament was also completed during the period of exile, but due to a lack of funds it was not published until 1609. The college had returned to Douai in 1593. 154 king of the Jews, for we have seen his star in the East and are come to adore him? ' we find the defence of an ancient form of Catholic piety which had been reduced in England to a distant memory: `The coming so far of devotion to visit and adore Christ in the place of his birth was properly a Pilgrimage to his person: and warranteth the faithful in the kind of external worship done to holy persons, places, things. ' 120 In the scene recorded in the Gospel of John, Christ commanded his disciples to wash each others' feet after his own example. But the editor instructs the pious reader that `the church has determined, guided by the Holy Spirit, that the action is not necessary,' and asks the reader to consider why `the heretics believe the church in this and do not credit her affirming the chalice not to be necessaryf or the communicant? ' 121 Popular demand for the Scriptures in English was immediate cause for the production of the Douai Bible. Catholics wanted to read the Word of God just as their Protestant neighbours did. They wanted to nourish their faith with it, to learn from and to be consoled by it. If that meant acquiring the same edition as those neighbours, there was nothing to prevent the Catholic from doing so, nor was there before 1582 any Catholic alternative available to them. If William Allen and Gregory Martin were reluctant abettors in this endeavour, it nonetheless provided the Catholic apologists with an opportunity to harass the Protestants and correct, at least on paper, the errors and abuses which had lead so many simple souls into blighted heresy and damnable 19 The translation was made principally by Gregory Martin, but the proofs were revised by William Allen, Thomas Worthington, William Rainolds, and Richard Bristow, all controversialists. 120G regory Martin, trans., The New Testament of Jesus Christ translated out of the authentical Latin (Rheims, 1582), STC 2884, sig. Aiii`"". 155 schism. If so much of the struggle to keep Catholicism alive in England depended on devotional literature, as it surely did, much of that literature depended on a translator to make it accessible to the Catholics who desired it and who depended on it. The translator of devotional books could never take the place of the confessor, nor could what he offered to English Catholics ever approach the spiritual and psychological benefits they received from the sacraments. But the translator, like the author, editor, and printer engaged in their own type of ministry, albeit an imperfect one. It was a ministry of consolation and encouragement to a community desperate for both. The translator used his skill to provide readers with material that would enliven and animate their faith, a faith in constant danger of becoming but a memory, of departing into the oblivion of history. Prayers and devotions were necessary to prevent this, but they were clearly not enough. Translators and authors saw in devotional books not only a source of comfort, but a source of challenge as well, and used these books of prayers and meditations to call English Catholics to greater resolve and constancy, and to denounce English Protestants for their heresy and sin. Translators of devotional books used their talents and time not only to advance piety, but to promote orthodoxy. They saw in devotional books, in books of prayers, in manuals of meditations, in lives of the saints, the perfect medium for promoting Catholic loyalty. 121Ib id, sig. Kk1`-" Chapter Four: The Polemics of prayer; devotional literature and the promotion of Catholic loyalty Hear then, you schismatics of England, who for saving your temporal goods will endanger the loss of eternal good; how much do you dishonour (yea vilify God) by persevering in your schismatical state? Assure yourselves (you schismatics) that it is not in your power to command at you pleasure, over time and repentance. Jane Owen, An antidote against purgatory. 1 In 1618, a anonymous translator, using a secret press in England, produced a devotional book: The interior occupation of the soul. Treatin of the important business of our salvation with God and his saints bey of prayer. For the most part, the book does exactly what it advertises on the title page, and precisely what it had done in the French original, providing the reader with a variety of prayers and practical methods of contemplation. Indeed, on every page it deals with the `important business of our salvation with God' in an entirely traditional and predictable manner. But in the process of translation, the book was given not only a new language, but a different purpose as well. In English it was no longer a book whose principal concern was the promotion of piety and the edification of the reader, for the `important business of our salvation with God' had taken on a new urgency in England where the religious situation was far different from the one in which the book originally appeared. Although the book contains a vast array of prayers, the preface by C. A. is concerned with a single form of intercession: prayer to saints - that category of intercession which had been consistently rejected by the Reformers. Before the reader encounters a single prayer he or she was confronted with a ninety- 157 four page preface by the translator which was devoted entirely to the exposition and defence of the Catholic practice of praying to saints and to a virulent attack on its critics: Unless the Protestants can show (which they will never be able to do) that prayer to saints is evidently forbidden, either by the word of God, or light of nature, or law of the church; they can never be defended or excused from great impiety and damnable schism, in dividing themselves not only from the Catholic brethren; but also from the saints themselves by this occasion.2 Pierre Coton, the Jesuit author of the French original Interieur occupation d'une äme devote was certainly aware of the threat and real danger that Protestantism posed in France.3 But the situation that Catholics faced in England was not merely threatening nor dangerous; it was catastrophic, and this different situation required a different response. Only after the English translator stirs his readers to indignation at the ignorance of the enemy and places the prayers which follow into the context of the contemporary religious controversy will he allow them to begin their devotions: What barbarous inhumanity and heathenish impiety (which God forgive) do the Protestants perform upon the sacred bodies of those glorious saints that ought to have been a thousand times ` Jane Owen, An antidote agaiinstt purgatory. Or discourse,w herein is showed that good works, and alms deeds, performed in the name of Christ, are a chief means for the preventing, or mitigating the torments of purgatory (St Omer, 1634), STC 18984, sig. F1 "-F2r. 2 C. A., trans., The interior occupation of the soul. Treating of the important business of our salvation with God and his saints by way of prayer (England, secret press, 1681), STC 15860, sig. *10"-*11r. 3 The bibliography of Pierre Coton, who had been chaplain to Henry IV, reveals that he was much more interested in producing polemical works than devotional ones. Of a corpus of nearly thirty works, only three others Oraisons devotes pour tous chrestiens catholiques, lesquelles se peuvent dire chaque jour aux heures dediees ä la Devotion, (Paris, 1611); Meditations Sur la Vie de nostre Savueur Jesus-Christ (Paris, 1614); and L'office de la Vierge Marie pour tous les temps de I'ann6 la , reveu et ordonne suivant reformation du Concile de Trente (Paris, 1618) were works of devotion. See C. Sommervogel, Biblioteque de la Compagnie de Jesus (Brussels, 1890), columns 1539-1559. 158 more dear unto them than the flesh and blood of their own fathers? Certainly the doers of these things could not be sent from God almighty, who vouchsafeth to honour so exceedingly as hath been shown; but from him who by the hands of Protestants having furiously torn the bodies of their saints out of their graves, would also have plucked their souls out of heaven, if he had been able.4 Why was it necessaryo r desirable to include such fiery polemics in a book of prayers? Certainly, men and women who were interested in the religious controversies of the period had ample material to satisfy their appetite for argument in the abundant polemical works that were produced by Catholic presses. But we can confidently assumet hat many readers who were interested in Catholic devotions were not necessarily waiting with bated breath for the latest polemical tracts to arrive from Douai, Rouen or St Omer. Richard Broughton's A just and moderate answer to a most injurious and slanderous pamphlet would not have held the same allure for many English Catholics as his A new manual of old Christian Catholic meditations & prayers.5 Devotional literature appealed to, at least potentially, a different audience. Realising this and the importance not only of edification but of education as well, authors and publishers took advantage of the demand for devotional literature and made many of these texts much more than what their titles advertised them to be. This chapter will examine the emergence and role of this hybrid genre of religious literature: the devotional book whose goal was spiritual and political, whose aim was to move its readers to a life of greater 4 C. A., The interior occupation of the soul, sig. A6'-7` 5 Richard Broughton, A just and moderate answert o a most injurious and slanderousp amphlet (England, secret press, 1606) STC 18818; A new manual of old Christian Catholic meditations & prayers (England, secret press, 1617), STC 3900. 159 piety and holiness, while at the same time stirring up in them a more fervent loyalty to the Catholic church. We have already noticed in Chapter 1 the patterns of production of polemical and devotional books and that nearly half of the books produced in the period under investigation can be classified as devotional. 6 But this statistic requires a caveat: as convenient as it may be for the students of recusant literature to classify the material as either `polemical' or `devotional' the distinction is one not so easily made. As we will see, a body of literature that at one time would have been considered ̀ devotional' can no longer be classified solely as such. What is more, this false albeit oftentimes necessary division, has caused students of the religious controversies of sixteenth and seventeenthc entury England to overlook the devotional literature as an unlikely source of information on the religious upheavals of the period. The first decade of the penal legislation saw the production of only a single book of devotion, Laurence Vaux's Catechism.7 By contrast, fifty-two works of controversy were produced by the Catholic press in the same period. By the end of the period under investigation, the trend had changed dramatically. The number of polemical works were in sharp decline by 1640, while devotional works had experienced a steady growth throughout the entire period. This shift in emphasis can be explained, in part at least, by a growing distaste for polemics and a weariness brought about by years of hostile controversy. As a result, when one tracks the printing statistics of the 6 Statistics are based on an analysis of the contents of Allison and Rogers, The Contemporary Printed Literature of the English Counter-Reformation between 1558-1640. Volume II: Works in English (Aldershot, 1994). Laurence Vaux, A catechism, or a Christian doctrine, necessary fror children and ignorant people (imprint unknown, 1568), STC 24625.5. 160 Catholic literature of the period, one notices fewer Responses,R eplies and Rejoinders, fewer Apologies, Appeals and Answers and more Litanies and Lives. Even the Jesuit Robert Person, who was never himself reluctant to engage the opponent in a war of words, recorded in his preface to The first book of the Christian exercise his opinion on polemics and apologetics: `which books albeit in these our troublesome times be necessaryf or the defence of our faith.. yet help they little . oftentimes to good life, but rather do fill the heads of men with a spirit of contradiction and contention that for the most part hindereth devotion, which devotion is nothing else but a quiet and peaceable state of mind. '8 This is an unpredictable judgement coming from such a one as Persons, who only penned this single devotional work. By the time he published The first book of the Christian exercise he had already composed five works of controversy, and after his warning about the dangers of such works, he composed another nineteen. William Rainolds shared Persons' concerns about the dubious value of controversial literature which `never edify to virtue, devotion, and salvation, but distract men's mind from the meditations of all such religious spiritual and heavenly exercises and fill their heads with only contentions, disputes and brawls of words, Punis verborus, as the Apostle calleth them. '9 George Flinton, editor of the 1583 edition of the Manual of Prayers undertook the task of collecting and translating such a large number of prayers in response to 8 Robert Persons,T he first book of the Christian exercise (Rouen, 1582), STC 19353, sig. Bi'. 9 William Rainolds, A refutation of sundry reprehensions,c avils and false slights (Paris, 1583), STC 20632, sig. aiii". 161 the great and zealous desire that many of our poor country hath, rather to occupy themselves devoutly by begging pardon for their sins than curiously searching the secret mysteries of God, to spend their time in unprofitable and insolent contradictions, tending to no other end to root out of the minds of Christian Catholics all true faith, firm hope, and perfect charity, which daily by devotion and other spiritual exercises is wonderfully increased.1 0 John Heigham in his translation of the Jesuit Luis de la Puente's Meditations upon the mysteries of our holy faith lamented - in remarks he entitles `The preface unto all deceived Protestants - that the controversies which had dominated the religious scene for the previous eighty years constrained a number of contemplatives to interrupt their sweet and delectable study of heavenly things to entangle themselves with that distasteful war of controversial wrangles.... It was sore against their wills ever to take pen in hand or to spend only one hour in the speculation of these studies: which hours these English Eagles and high soaring souls would much more gladly have employed in the contemplation of heavenly virtues, the true study, delight, and centre of a scholar's soul. ' 1 Richard Hopkins was enlisted to translate a number of Spanish devotional works, a task which he gladly undertook since he was convinced, like those mentioned above, that by making available works of prayer and piety `more spiritual profit would undoubtedly endue thereby to the gaining of Christian souls in our country from schism and heresy and from all sin and iniquity, than by books which treat of controversies in religion: which (as experience hath now plainly tried) do nothing [to] well dispose the common people's mind to 10G eorge Hinton, A manual of prayers newly gathered out of many and diverse famous authors as well ancient as of the time present (Rouen?, 1583), STC 17263, fo. [2]". " John Heigham, trans., Meditations upon the mysteries of our holy faith (St Omer, 1619), STC 20486, sig. *3". 162 the fear, love and service of almighty God, as books treating of devotion and how to lead a virtuous life do. ' 12 Increasingly then, the attitude of those responsible for the dissemination of Catholic literature was shifting in favour of a more pastoral approach. They never abandoned polemics in favour of prayer alone, but saw in the combination of these two elements the most effective way to increase and invigorate the religious fervour and loyalty of the Catholic reader. Loyalty was of course the most pressing issue both for the Catholic exiles who produced and smuggled into England devotional texts, as well as for the government that recognised in these same books a serious threat to the stability and uniformity which had been the primary objective of the 1559 legislation. One thing is certainly clear, neither party could afford to take this loyalty for granted. The Papal bull Regnans in Excelsis issued by Pius V in 1570 excommunicated Elizabeth as a heretic; it deposed her and released her subjects from any obedience due to a legitimate monarch. The government's reaction should have been anticipated, for the bull that made Elizabeth a heretic made Catholics who adhered to it traitors to their sovereign.1 3F or the government, loyalty to the crown was manifested by obedience, obedience manifested by regular attendance at services conducted according to the Book of Common Prayer. 14 Conversely, for the exiled establishment abroad, non- attendance, recusancy, would eventually become the criterion for loyalty to the Catholic church. In the early years of the penal legislation, however, the vast 12R ichar Hopkins, trans., Of prayer and meditation (Paris, 1582), STC 16907, sig. avi"-aviir. 13A ccording to A. O. Meyer, `No event in English history, not even the Gunpowder Plot, produced so deep and enduring an effect on England's attitude to the catholic [sic] church as the bull of Pius V. Englishmen never forgot their queen's excommunication. ' England and the Catholic Church under Elizabeth (London, 1967), p. 85. 163 majority of English Catholics needed to be convinced of this, and to convince them, they needed to be informed and educated - sometimes even converted. It is essential to realise that recusancy, refusal to attend religious services in the parish church, was not the natural or obvious reaction to the religious legislation of 1559. The natural reaction was to obey. What came naturally was to attend the parish church with the local community on Sunday mornings. Any other behaviour would have been not only unnatural, but for many loyal English Catholics it would have been unimaginable. Recusancy was, for the most part, an emerging ideology, and one that would only be realised gradually and haphazardly, and never universally. To be Catholic, at least to many who claimed that designation, did not preclude attendance at the local church, and there may have been many who, like the Cheshire resident Ann Scarisbrick, attended the parish church once a month, satisfying the authorities by her occasional attendance and her conscience by her intermittent recusancy.1 5 ̀Catholicism' as it was understood by many lay men and women did not necessarily require abjuration of the established church. 16W ith casuist priests providing instruction and moral advice to the wavering soul, and with brutish pursuivants ready to carry them away, many - too many as far as Henry Garnet, S.J . and those of his thinking were concerned - found occasional attendance a legitimate, if not a wholly desirable response to a difficult situation. It is not easy to define a typical English Catholic of the latter half of the sixteenth century, but if one had to conjure up some image, one would do well 14W . R. Trimble, The Catholic Laity in Elizabethan England (Cambridge, Mass., 1964), p. 27. 15A lexandra Walsham, Church Papists (Woodbridge, 1999), p. 75. 164 to picture a Catholic who was perhaps hesitant to attend church, afraid not to, but somewhat guilt-ridden when he or she gave in to the pressures from authority and neighbour alike; someone who followed the example not of the most heroic or resolute, but of the most numerous. It did not help matters that the Catholic clergy were not united in opinion on the matter of attendance. Robert Persons recalls in his memoirs that the issue of `whether it were lawful to go to heretical churches' was on the agenda of a meeting of clerics when he first arrived in England in 1580.17T he priest Alban Langdale had opined that it was not a sin to attend the Protestant church to avoid persecution, if the act were accompanied by a protest that it was being done out of obedience to the Queen.1 8 It was certainly due to the lack of clerical unanimity on the issue that a group of Catholic nobles had petitioned the Council of Trent in 1562, asking for a definitive answer to the burning question of the day: whether it was permissible to attend services in the established church. The Council's reply came as a shock to the petitioners who had anticipated a degree of leniency and license considering the hardships that English Catholics would face if recusancy were the only alternative permitted them. English Catholics received their definitive answer, but not the one many had hoped for. In no case was church papistry - attending church in body but not in spirit 19 - permissible. That decision, along with an independent declaration issued by Pius IV might well have settled the issue, but it did not. Five years later the eminent divine Nicholas Sander was compelled to 16C hristopher Haigh, The English Reformation Revised (Cambridge, 1992), p. 179. 17J . H. Pollen, ed., The Memoirs of Father Robert Persons( London, 1906), pp. 61-62. 18C . G. Bayne, Anglo-Roman Relations, 1558-1565 (Oxford, 1913), p. 162. 165 announce ̀ whereas there is rumour spread by certain men, that this going to schismatical service is, or may be winked at, or dispensed in the Catholics, of certainty it is not so. But rather by this key-cold demeanour of the Catholics, we may see how just God was in punishing them with heresy, in whom he saw so little true and hearty faith.... [T]he disease is great, it needeth a sharp 20 medicine. ' Sander was referring to the not-uncommon opinion that attendance was permissible if accompanied by a `mental reservation' or `protestation, ' that such attendance was only a show of conformity, but not conformity itself. Of those who would make such a protest the Jesuit Henry Garnet remarked `So often as I think of them, I am put in mind of the fact of Judas. Judas coming unto our saviour said `Hail Rabbi, and he kissed him. But our saviour said unto him "Judas, with a kiss doth thou betray the son of man?" Even so these protesters if not Protestants with a protestation will seem to kiss our saviour: but with their presence among such a Pharisaical company they do indeed betray him. '21 George Gilbert gave this assessmento f those who held mental reservations: These men have no other recourse but a number of feeble excuses, namely that God seest heir good intention, that they believe in the Catholic faith and have a hatred for heresy, and they hope that they will be held excused in as much as they cannot live in any other way owing to the strict laws and 19S ee A. O. Meyer, England and the Catholic Church under Queen Elizabeth (Oxford, 1913), pp. 163-181 for a discussion of the embassy to Rome; and Calendar of State Papers, Spanish, 1558-1567, p. 258. 20N icholas Sander,A treatise of the images of Christ, and of his saints (Louvain, 1567), STC 21696, sig. Aiiii`. 21H enry Garnet, A treatise of Christian renunciation. Compiled of excellent sentences & as it were divers homilies of ancient father: wherein is showed how far it is lawful or necessary for the love of Christ to forsake father, mother, wife and children, and all other worldly creatures (England, secret press, 1593), STC 11617.8, sig. K3". 166 persecution or to old age which does not fit them to endure hardship or imprisonment. They will say too, that, though they are not acting well, they are awaiting a favourable time when they will make satisfaction for the past; meanwhile they will throw themselves on the mercy of God and will act rightly to this extent that wife, children and servants shall not go to the heretical churches. ..a nd in this fashion they flatter and deceive themselves, thinking to have their sins condoned by doing good to others.2 2 To assessp opular Catholic attitudes towards attendance at the reformed liturgy, one need only consider the amount of rhetoric employed even decadesa fter the Settlement to dissuade the population from attending `Calvin's supper.' Propaganda exists for a reason, and the amount of polemic associated with the issue of church attendance, even that which was placed in the narrow margins or prefatory remarks of a devotional book, supplies ample evidence that many English Catholics - that is, those who still considered themselves as such - would frequently or even occasionally join their neighbours in the parish church. As strong as an individual's fervour and devotion might be, one must not underestimate the psychological and social effects that abstaining from such an important communal exercise could have. Those effects could be devastating. John Finch, called by William Chaderton, Bishop of Chester, ̀ a very seditious recusant,' had succumbed to the overwhelming pressure and attended the service at his parish church in Manchester. The following day, overwhelmed with guilt, he tried to drown himself, `but that by concourse of good neighbours he was saved from that danger. ' 23 22L . Hicks, Letters and Memorials of Father Robert Persons,S . J.: vol. I (to 1588), CRS, 39 (London, 1942), pp. 331-332. 23C SP Dom., 1581-90, p. 131. See Walsham, Church Papists,p . 73. 167 Conformity, even if it could be resisted, must have been for many an almost perpetual temptation. Early in the reign of Elizabeth their temporising could have been understood since Englishmen and women were used to constantly shifting patterns of religious belief and behaviour. In the 1560s there was no reason to believe that the 1570s would not see the Pope back in England. But as the years passed and with them any real hope that this would be the case, the exiled authors became less tolerant of their time-serving co- religionists at home. The battle for Catholics' loyalty became even more fierce as penal legislation became more unforgiving. To the excommunication of 1570, the arrival of the Jesuits in 1580, the Armada of 1588, the Gunpowder Plot of 1605, the government responded with increasingly harsh penalties for traitorous, papist activities. 24 External pressures for conformity - from government, pastors, neighbours and friends - were not the only ones that had to be endured and pressure to conform to the Established church was frequently found within the home itself. The staunchly recusant family may be more of an historical construct than a reality: many young men and women inclined towards conservative religion were very often forced to conform not simply to the practices of their neighbours and countrymen, but to those of their families as well. Pressure to conform came from every quarter and was simply enormous. The Jesuit Henry Garnet recognised that the home, not university, nor church, nor marketplace, was very often the greatest source of that pressure. 24S ee J. B. Brown, An historical account of the laws enacteda gainst the Catholics both in England and Ireland (London, 1813). 168 Henry Garnet, S.J . was an industrious author and translator of devotional literature, and the work he produced in 1593 can certainly be included in that genre: A treatise of Christian renunciation. Compiled of excellent sentences& as it were divers homilies of ancient father: wherein is showed how far it is lawful or necessaryf or the love of Christ to forsake father, mother, wife and children, and all other worldly creatures.2 5 The book is based on the Christian duty of renunciation found in the text of Matthew 10:3 7, `Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and who ever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me'26 a familiar, if uncomfortable text, which reminds the reader of his or her duty to love the Lord above all others, even spouse or parent. Predictably enough, the English Jesuit applies the text to the contemporary situation: the Christian requirement for renunciation, thoroughly supported by biblical and patristic texts throughout the book, is likewise a requirement for recusancy. Garnet quotes from St Jerome's commentary on the text: Who loveth father and mother more than me is not worthy of me. He which before had said "I came not to send peace, but a sword, and to divide men against father and mother. " Lest any man should prefer piety before religion, he added "Who loveth his father and mother more than me is not worthy of me." ... After God, love thy father, love thy mother, love thy children. But if necessity come that the love of parents and children must be compared to the love of God and both cannot be observed, hatred to ones kindred is piety to God.2 7 25G arnet, A treatise of Christian renunciation. Writing to Fr Persons on 2 June 1601 he said `Besides the treatise of schism...! wrote a book of collections out of Holy Fathers entitled Of Chirstians Renunciation which I was forced to do, against parents & husbands who too much pressed theirs to go to church. ' A. F. Allison, `The writings of Fr Henry Garnet, S. J. (1555- 1606), ' R H, 1 (1951), p. 8. 26T he New Oxford Annotated Bible (Oxford, 1994), p. 15NT 169 This, then, is the reason for a text on the pious virtue of renunciation, a familiar theme with an urgent interpretation. Renunciation of family and friends involves a rejection of their opinions and pressures. Those of weaker wills, those who have not renounced themselves and their worldly relations, easily fall prey to the pressures of family and friends. In 1593 the greatest, for Garnet and those of like mind, and the most insidious pressure was to attend services in the established church. One should not assumet hat all or even most of the young men who secretedt hemselves out of England, destined for the seminaries and novitiates on the continent, were the products of a recusant household. Nor should one assumet hat these men left the country with either the encouragement or even knowledge of their relations and friends. The Responsa Scholarum provides ample evidence that recusants were recruited from schismatic and even Protestant households. When Robert Persons became rector of the English College in Rome in 1597, he introduced a practice whereby potential students would answer a series of questions about their upbringing, education and confessional history. 28 Their answers are recorded in the Responsa. The fifth question in a series of six asks the candidate: `Si in haeresi aliquando auf schismate vixerit? Quand, quibus praesidiis, cuius industria, fidem Catholicam amplexus sit, si aliquando fuerit haereticus? Quando ex Anglia discesserit? Cur Romara 27H enry Garnet, A treatise of Christian renunciation (England, secret press, 1593), STC 11617, sig E7r. 28T he editor of the Responsa describes the original documents as `loose pieces of paper, mostly half-sheets folded in quarto, covered on one or more sides in the students' own handwriting. On some occasions, they took up more than one sheet, but they were never bound. Altogether, there are just under 600 sets of Responsa, filling some 900 pages. ' 170 venerit, quidve ipsum induxerit ad hoc seminariunm petendum? Si quid perpessus sit aliquando ob fidem Catholicam? Quid demum illi contigerit circa vocationem ad fidem Catholicam? ' The answers which the candidates provided are an exceptional source of information on the domestic, confessional situations of these future priests. It is abundantly clear that a large percentage had not been raised in Catholic homes, but found themselves in a Roman seminary due to the efforts of English priests and authors. Upon his arrival at the English College in Rome, Henry Coppinger reported that `All my relations are either heretics, or at least non-Catholics. My father was greatly inclined to the Catholic religion, but for fear of the fines durst not profess it. '29N icholas Hart was from his infancy a schismatic, and only became a Catholic as a young man. After a scuffle in the street with other young men, but before the duel that had been scheduled to settle the matter, Hart thought it a good idea to be reconciled to the Catholic church, and visited a Franciscan imprisoned in the Marshalsea for that purpose. Hart had never seen a Catholic Mass before his reconciliation. 30 John Jackson reported upon his entrance to the seminary that he had no friends or relations who were Catholics 31 . A convert of Father Persons, Henry Thompson admitted that he had been a heretic until he was nineteen.3 2W illiam Alabaster hated the Catholic church until he was twenty-eight. 33R ichard Cornwallis had been a Anthony Kenny, ed., The Responsa Scholarum of the English College Rome, part one: 1598- 1621 (London, 1962), p. vii. 29H enry Foley, Records of the English Province of the Society of Jesus (London, 1887) i, p. 68. 30I bid, p. 169. 31I bid, p. 191. 32I bid, p. 197. 33K enny, The Responsa Scholarum of the English College Rome, p. 3. Alabaster learned to hate the Catholic church again. By 1610 he was determined `to live and die a Protestant. ' Francis Edwards, Robert Persons: the biography of an Elizabethan Jesuit (St Louis ), p. 338. 171 heretic for most of his life, and up until three years before he arrived in Rome.3 4C hristopher Robinson reported in 1606, four years before his ordination, `My father is of the middle class, and a schismatic; I have four brothers and five sisters; all my principal relations are Protestants. Before I went to London I was a Protestant, but three years ago, by means of a certain fellow-countryman named Samford, a priest, I was converted to the orthodox faith. '35 Thomas Oglethorpe said, `My father was a schismatic (the worst of states). My mother, by the persuasion of her parents, held to the true religion. 361 have two brothers... My eldest brother is a Protestant, and one paternal uncle is a schismatic...A s to my religion I have nothing to say. In England I was neither a Protestant nor yet Catholic. I went to Protestant churches and was present at sermons.' 37 Francis Carter, likewise, was raised in a schismatic household: `Until I was twelve years old, I followed my father to the Protestant church, but then, my means of my dear uncle, Anthony Berry, I was delivered from this misery. '38 Edmund Smith, Alexander Bradshaw, Thomas Newman, John Faulkner, John Smith, William Tayler, Henry Lanman, Charles Waldegrave, Thomas Hodgson, Thomas Kemys, John Brown, Brian Cansfield, and many others who applied for admittance to the English College reported that they had, at one time or another, been schismatics or heretics.I Q All were raised in non-Catholic homes. The number of former heretics or schismatics that had not only been converted to 34 Kenny, The ResponsaS cholarum of the English College Rome, p. 5. 3sF oley, Records of the English Province of the Society of Jesus, vol. iii, p. 108. 36H e also reports that she died `when I was quite a boy, passed,I hope to a better state.' Ibid, p. 150. 37I bid, p. 150 38I bid, p. 187. 172 Catholicism but who were willing to risk death for its advancement, testifies not only to the large number of potential converts in England, but to the actual successeso f the missionary efforts that had been taking place there and in the centres of Catholic power and influence abroad. Reading Catholic devotional books was a factor for several men, previously Protestants, in seeking admission to the English College in Rome to train for the priesthood. Upon his entrance in 1602 Charles Yelverton testified to his Protestant upbringing and his subsequentc onversion: `I was a heretic, and my first distaste for the heretical ways arose from their having no fixed opinions.... I read Calvin's Institutes, a book which gave me no satisfaction .... A book on the Contempt of the World fell into my hands, in consequence of which I began to feel very ill at easew ith my self on the subject of overcoming ourselves by chastity, poverty and obedience.' This was George Cotton's translation of Diego D'Estella's The Contempt of the world and the vanity thereof. 40 Father Persons' Directory was a particularly effective tool for conversions.4 1 James Roper claimed he had `many relations heretics, none Catholic except one.' In the Responsa he testified that he owed his conversion to conversations he had with Edward Yelverton `but chiefly by the assiduous reading of the Rhiemish New Testament, and of Father Persons' Directory, and the little book of Father Costerus.' 42 Robert Walker testified 39K enny, The ResponsaS cholarum of the English College Rome, pp. 25,62,63,70,77,83, 88,96,98,106. 40F oley, Records of the English Province of the Society of Jesus,i , p. 145. The Contempt of the world and the vanity thereof (Rouen, 1584), STC 10541. 41F or the popularity of the Protestantv ersion of this book, see Chapter 6. 42T his is Francois Coster's Meditations of the whole history of the passion of Christ. Translated out of Latin by R.W . [L. Worthington] (Douai, 1616), STC 5827. 173 that he, too, had been a heretic until he had conversed with Catholics and read Persons' Book of Resolution. 43T homas Pennant claims to have been an atheist, and converted to Catholicism by reading the same book. 44L ikewise, Richard Garnet, who had been raised a Protestant, began to associate with Catholics when he left Cambridge and to read Catholic books, especially the Resolution. 45 James Rosier, too, was moved to abjure the new religion as a result of reading the book. 46T he author Robert Green in his Repentance attributes his death-bed conversion to the book as well. 47 And we hear of another dramatic conversion: One that had been with Drake in the action of St Domingo, ever an heretic, coming home chanced to read the Resolution, with the terror whereof he was so frightened [sic] that his hair stood on end, went presently to some Catholic friends, desiring them to help him to a priest. They not trusting him, he persevered in reading of good books with such show of hearty sorrow for is former life that they fulfilled his request. He became a Catholic, and continueth very constant, even with danger of being disinherited for it. 48 Finally, Father Thomas Poulton recounted his experience: `I was converted by means of a book written by Father Robert Persons of happy memory, De Resolutione, on reading which a marvellous light broke in upon me. I shed floods of tears for many days.' 49 William Fitch recalled an incident shortly before his conversion when he encountered the Resolution: 43 Kenny, The Responsa Scholarum of the English College Rome, p. 11. 44I bid, p. 139. 45l bid, p. 150. 46I bid, p. 207. 47S outhern, Elizabethan Recusant Prose, p. 41. 48P hilip Caraman, The Other Face (London, 1960), p. 209. 49F oley, The Records of the English Province of the Society of Jesus,v ol. i, p. 158-9. 174 I proposed to go into the country to my friend to recreate and delight myself with those sports wherein youth delighteth and being come to the house of a friend of mine my mind was wholly changed and alienated from any sports at all: For three or for days after I came thither, it happened that I lighted upon a little book, which I was curious to look upon, and finding that it was a book which I hear much commended, treating of a Resolution to live well was presently moved to read some few passagesi n the same, yet without any purpose to read exactly all whatsoever might be contained in it; and after I had read some little thereof, I began to see the end whereat he aimed, which was present and speedy reformation of the life of the reader: where upon I was desirous to see what arguments he used to persuadet hereto, and if peradventure I liked them well, I would put them in practice. But in reading I began to have a remorse of conscience, and therefore I left the book for the present, with a purpose to read more thereof the next day which was Sunday.5 0 The Jesuit John Gerard concluded that the Resolution was `a most useful and wonderful book which I believe has converted more souls to God than it contains pages.' 51 The polemical campaign carried out in the pages of devotional books was not limited to an audience of Catholics alone. English Catholics were certainly the principal target audience, but there is no shortage of evidence to suggestt hat those involved with the printing mission expected - and even hoped - that some of the works they produced would fall into Protestant hands. Addressing Protestants in a devotional work was not merely a polemical device included in works intended exclusively for an orthodox audience, and these addressesm ay reveal a much more fluid system of book distribution than so Robert Rookwood, trans., The life of the reverend Fa. Angel of Joyeuse..T. ogether with the lives of the reverend fathers, Father Benet Englishman and Father Archangel Scotchman( St Omer, 1623), STC 3902, sig. Bb2"-Bb3`. 51P hilip Caraman, ed., John Gerard: The autobiography of a hunted priest (New York, 1952), p. 2. 175 we normally consider to have existed.5 2 Printed books and manuscripts of Catholic devotion were passed around from household to household - although with the necessaryc aution and discretion - and they were carefully read or lightly perused by individuals of any variety of religious convictions. Thus Father Persons could write in his preface to his Directory, `Wherefore (gentle reader) if thou be of another religion than I am, I beseecht hee most heartily, that laying aside all hatred, malice and wrathful contention, let us join together in amendment of our lives, and praying for one another: and God (no doubt) will not suffer us to perish finally for want of right faith. ' 53H is fellow Jesuit Richard Gibbons had no expectations as to the religion of his audience and addressedh is `gentle reader' `whosoever, and whatsoever religion thou be, that thou endeavour to peruse this book, to the end of which it was [put]... into English, that is to thine own salvation' 54J ohn Heigham addressesa few words to any Protestants who may have happened upon his text on Catholic ceremonies: having read the text, he promises them `thou thy self will freely confess, that the hearers and beholders of the Holy Mass enjoy and receive a most incredible comfort, by occasion of the ceremonies which are handled therein: which thou being a Protestant canst never enjoy at thy morning prayer. ' 55 It is a mystery why the prolific editor Sir Tobie Matthew would expect a Protestant to be interested in Vincenzo Puccini's The life of the holy 52S ee Chapter 6 on the Protestantr eadership of Catholic books. 53P ersons,T he first book of the Christian exercise, sig. B2". saR ichard Broughton's A new manual of old Christian Catholic meditations (England, secret press, 1617) is addressed to `All English Catholics of all degrees' and refers to `Your English Protestant doctors and rulers in religion are far divided from the Roman church, yet they freely and generally grant it was pure and immaculate six hundred years near that seducer's time, ' implying that he may have expected Protestants to read the work as well. STC 3900, sig. Aiii`. ss John Heigham, A devout exposition of the holy Mass. With an ample declaration of all the rites and ceremonies belonging to the same (Douai, 1614), STC 13033, sig. B 1'. 176 and venerable mother Suor Maria Maddalena de Patsi, a Florentine Lady & religious of the order of Carmelites, but he was prepared for such an event nonetheless: ̀ And as for Protestants,' he says, ' if any such may read this book, I will only desire them to be that which they would feign be thought to be, that is discrete, and not to oppose, upon this only reason, because we affirm; nor to scorn things as vanities and inventions only becauset hemselves understand them or see them not. ' 56 The mysterious C. A. clearly had a mixed audience in mind when he composed his translation to the Interior occupation of the soul. Like so many others of this genre, the book is essentially a collection of prayers and could easily be classified along with the `manuals' which had been appearing in English and in great numbers since 1583. Although it provides prayers directed to various needs and occasions -'In putting on your apparel'; `When you use your fan'; `When any thing displeaseth us' - prayers that could hardly offend Protestant sensibilities - these prayers only follow a lengthy catalogue of petitions directed to saints. C. A. was aware of the difficulty, realising that a part of his potential audience would have `been brought up as it were in some defiance with the saints in heaven.' And so, for their sakes, he offers a method of `praying' to saints `without scruple and offence to conscience, according to the opinion of thine own masters.' If the individual's conscience will not allow him or her to consider the petitions contained in the text to be prayers to saints themselves, they should consider them to be tributes to these holy men 56T obie Matthew, trans., The life of the holy and venerable mother Suor Maria Maddalena de Patsi, a Florentine Lady & religious of the order of Carmelites (St Omer, 1631) STC 20483, sig. **4r". He intended his edition of St Augustine's Confessions for a mixed audience as well. Tobie Matthew, trans., The confessions of the incomparable doctor S. Augustine (St Omer, 1620), STC 910, sig. alr. 177 and women, which will be sufficient to excite the reader to some devotion. Thus he instructs the Protestant reader ̀ to imagine all the prayers of this book to the saints of heaven to be but a figure of rhetoric.. feigned .a speech, whereby to excite affection made unto those things which cannot hear us; as to a rock, to a river; to birds or beasts. For in such figurative senses,t he most learned doctors of thine own religion, do understand those innumerable prayers to saints...' 57 C. A. tries to convince his reader that if the prayers included in the text cannot be lawful as prayers to the saint, then surely they can be considered legitimate as speechesa bout the holy person. `Wherefore if thou canst frame thy conscience to believe that all these prayers and the like are nothing else but feigned speeches;t his will be one way, according to the doctrine of thine own masters, not only to serve thyself, but also to satisfy others, that shall object the reading of this book or the practice thereof unto thee.' 58 It was a technique that others employed as well. The editor of The primer, or the office of the Blessed Virgin provided for a Protestant readership: ̀ If this work fall into the hands of any not Catholics (and therefore possessedw ith a prejudicate conceit of the Roman Church's idolatry) let them know that, whatsoever is here demanded of the Mother of God, or any other Saint, is asked of them, not as being able to give anything of themselves, but as being Friends of God, and therefore powerful to obtain any good thing at his bountiful hands.' 59 The Jesuit Thomas Wright not only reveals in his preface to The disposition or garnishment of the soul to receive worthily the blessed 57C . A., The interior occupation of the soul, sig. *4"-*5". 58I bid, sig. *8r"" 178 Sacrament that he intended his book to be read by Protestants, but also informs us of the wide variety of confessional dispositions that existed in England when he wrote the book in 1596: `before I descendedt o any particular treatise, I preconceived that these my slender meditations should come to the view and censure of three sorts of persons; Catholics, Protestants, & demi-Catholics, or Catholic-like Protestants, or external Protestants and external Catholics: some call them church papists, others schismatics, whose minds I thought good to prepare in particular before I went any further. '60 Unlike C. A. who offered friendly advice to his Protestant reader, assisting him or her in the advancement of the spiritual life, Wright takes the opportunity of a Protestant audience to deride them for their theological errors. A book on the proper disposition of the soul for reception of the Eucharist might seem an odd place to engage in a debate on the thorny issue of free will and the value of merit, but like so many others, Wright does not hesitate to add to a work of devotion a strong element of controversy as he discussesf ree will. His attack must be half-hearted though, since, he claims, `the arguments or rather sophisms that Protestants bring against this infallible, experimented, practised and allowed virtue in all antiquity, deserve rather hissing than answering. '61 Wright certainly considered his most important audience the last which he addresses,t he Church papists whom he refers to as `Catholic-like Protestants.' They were, after all, the primary target of the Jesuits who were forbidden to meddle in the affairs of the heretics but who, according to their 59T he primer, or the office of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Mechlin, 1615), STC 16096, sig. A2"- A3`. 60T homas Wright, The disposition or garnishment of the soul to receive worthily the blessed Sacrament (Antwerp, 1596), STC 18335, sig. A3". 61I bid, sig. C6. 179 directives at least, were to concentrate on reconciling schismatics, that is those Catholics who, though present at reformed services, had not been converted to Protestant doctrine. 626 W hat can the Protestants' churches afford you? ' he asks, Ah, infected sermons, corrupted with heresies. What prayers? Alas, how will God hear them that will not hear him? The communion, 0 poisoned cup, better it were for you to eat so much ratsbane, than that polluted bread and to drink so much dragon's gall or vipers' blood than that sacrilegious wine. 63 Thomas Price dedicated his translation of The history of our B. Lady of Loreto to his native country who he admonished to Learn therefore by this ever unanswerable argument and inscrutable judgement of almighty God, that thou walkest in a wrong and Catholics in the only true faith.. .A nd now (0 dear England) considering that thou seestt his to be true, as the sun that shinest in the bright summer's day; and as it were a beam of heavenly light sent from the paradise of this wretched world to illuminate the blind eyes of thy soul, abandon thy error, shake off heresy, unloose the chains of hell wherewith thou art fast bound. 64 It is no wonder, then, that devotional works were considered as insidious as the most vicious polemics - and as illegal - when they so often and so vehemently attacked within their pages the practices and beliefs of the established church. Catholic authors, editors, publishers and printers found the pages of devotional books to be the ideal arena for a defence of the Catholic faith. 62A . O. Meyer England and the Catholic church under Elizabeth (New York, 1957), pp. 486- 487. 63W right, The disposition or garnishmento f the soul, sig. C6'. 64ThomasP rice, trans., The history of our B. Lady of Loreto (St Omer, 1608), STC 24141, sig. **4`. 180 Translators in particular were given an opportunity to take a work of devotion and forge it into a weapon against heresy and schism, and since half of the devotional works that were made available to English Catholics were translations, it was an opportunity which was not often lacking. John Yaxley took up the task of translating Francis de Sales' Introduction to a devout life not simply to supply spiritual succour to English readers - in happier times that may have been his only motive - but now it was to provide a source of encouragement amidst persecution and strife: `This made me desirous to peruse it carefully for the bettering of my own soul; and to translate it painfully for the benefit of many souls in our poor distressed country, which more than any other country standeth in need of such good books, for counter-poisons against so many venomous writings as worldly and fanatical heads do daily publish. '65 The Spanish Dominican Luis de Granada did not compose his Of prayer and meditation to warn his readers against the dangers of falling into schism. Rather, he wrote about the dangers of falling into sin. His translator, however, the English exile Richard Hopkins, more than made up for this deficiency. In his dedicatory epistle to the work - eighteen pages addressedt o the gentlemen of the Inns of Court - Hopkins speaks of little else as he reflects that these times of heresy and schism are clearly signs of the coming of the Antichrist. 66 Four years after translating this work, Hopkins turned to Fra Luis again and his Memorial of a Christian Life. Once again, the translator is loathe to let the reader approach the meditations without first contrasting the godly and sound teaching of the orthodox Dominican as found in the 65JohnY axley, trans., An Introduction to a Devoute Life Composed in the French by the R. Father in God Francis Sales (Douai, 1613), STC 11316.5, sig. A2`-A3`. 181 Memorial with the pernicious and wicked innovations of the heretics: `...w ould God that the late apostatesL uther, Zwinglius, Oecolampadius, Calvin, Beza, and other of their scholars pretending now to be reformers of Christ's Catholic church in this our corrupt age, had followed the same Godly order...i n their manner of preaching Reformation. ' True reform, he continues, is not carried out by `grievous penal laws, forfeitures, confiscations, and executions with terrible deaths,' but rather by the efforts of authors like Granada, whose works encouraged the most efficacious means of religious renewal: `penance, contempt of the world, mortification of the flesh. ' 67 The fifth-century bishop of Marseilles, Salvianus, had written a tract instructing the Christian community there on the proper use of worldly goods and the fulfilment of the law of charity, to avoid the vice of avarice and to practice the virtue of almsgiving, `Nor to greedily store up riches for themselves and their children. '68 The English Jesuit Joseph Creswell gave the work an entirely different purpose, however, when he translated it from the Latin in 1618. (Figure 4.1) Its intention in the contemporary situation was to console those who had been reduced to poverty as a result of the heavy fines imposed upon recusants and to bolster the resolve of those who might be tempted to reduce the burden of financial hardship by conforming to the established religion. 69 `The fear of shame and poverty' he says, `wages war against religion in 66R ichard Hopkins, trans., Of prayer and meditation (Paris, 1582), STC 16907. 67R ichard Hopkins, trans., A memorial of a Christian life. Wherein are treated all such things as appertain unto a Christian to do (Rouen, 1586), STC 16903, sig. a2". 68J oseph Creswell, trans., Quis dives saluus. How a rich man may be saved. Written about the year of Christ 480 (St Omer 1618), STC 21676, ... sig. W. 69A . F. Allison, `The later life and writings of JosephC reswell, S.J .,' R H, 15 (1979), p. 123. Saluus. Figure 4.1 The Jesuit Joseph Creswell (N. T) adapted this ancient text to the contemporary religious situation in England. 182 England. '70 And the present book he boasts ̀ falls out fit, both for our time and purpose, to reconcile men with the justice of God, and is a sovereign counterpoison against the fear and shame of poverty, whereof the persecutor maketh his advantage to draw many souls from the love of Christ. ' 71 In the transformation from piety to polemics, the Virgin Mary, and especially devotion to her in the rosary, played a particularly important role. Sabine Chambers published a book from the very active press at St Omer in 1619 entitled The garden of our blessed lady or a devout manner how to serve her in her rosary and dedicated the work to the `devout catholic laity in England, ' praising them for enduring so many pressures in the defence of truth. 72 For Chambers, the rosary was not merely a practice of piety, but the surest sign of orthodoxy. `All the Christian world admits the Beads in their Banners, as a chief Ornament, thereby to be known and distinguished from the conventicles of Heretics and Infidels. ' 73T he Jesuit Henry Garnet concurred, saying of the Virgin Mary in his work The society of the rosary, `She is in special manner a rainbow against heretics She has destroyed all heresies ... in the whole world, and therefore is a particular sign and abode of the ceasing thereof. ' 74 The Catholic faithful were therefore encouraged in these texts to consider their practice of devotion as a practice of separation as well. The rosary, and books written on it, were not only means by which one meditated on the mysteries of Christ's life, but had been transformed for the English 70C reswell, Quis dives saluus. How a rich man may be saved, sig. *6`. 71I bid. 72S abine Chambers, The garden of our blessed lady or a devout manner how to serve her in her rosary (St Omer, 1619) STC 4955, sig. *3. 73I bid, sig. *3. 74H enry Garnet, The society of the rosary (England, secret press, 1596-1597), STC 11617.5, sig. A3r. 183 Catholic population into a devotion which strengthened their identity as Catholics. Every time they prayed their beads, it would place them more firmly on the Roman side of the confessional divide. How exactly did authors, editors and translators go about transforming a devotional text into a polemical work? The greatest challenge certainly belonged to the translator who dared not tamper with the original without risking the scorn and mockery of those who could easily assesst he accuracy of his work. Fidelity to the intentions of the author was almost universally advertised to be the principal objective of the translator, as a certain A. B. protested: `My care hath been only to render him faithfully... not giving him any other ornament than that of truth. ' But we can be certain that it was not his only care. The work which he translated for a Catholic audience was A treatise of prayer and the fruits and manner of prate written by the martyr Bishop John Fisher, who is presented to the persecuted faithful as a model of religious constancy and steadfastness.7 5T ranslators could also be selective in the texts which they chose to make available to their English readers. Richard Broughton was not the author or editor of devotional texts, he was a polemicist and the twenty books for which he was responsible were solely concerned with pointing out the errors of the Protestants and spurring on Catholics to greater resolve and conviction. 76O ne should not be surprised then to discover that the two works which at first glance appear to belong to the genre of devotion really belong to that type of literature with which Broughton was most comfortable. Consider the title of one of these which he published in 1618: A 75A . B., A treatise of prayer and the fruits of prayer (Paris, 1640), STC 10890, sig. Aiii`. 184 manual of prayers used by the fathers of the primitive church... Wherein by the very prayers of the apostles and their successors( here related without any word or syllable added or altered) all the chiefest questions now in controversy are invincibly proved for the holy doctrine of the present Roman church; by which we are instructed how to believe and what to practice in devotion. The first chapter containeth prayers concerning justification, which is not by faith alone.7 7 In this example, the prayers themselves are stripped of their original devotional purpose; their usefulness in religious terms is entirely polemical and apologetic. They are less concerned with the individual's relationship with God than with the reader's attachment to the Catholic Church and his or her abhorrence of the current state of schism. More common, however, than prayers which had lost their devotional element entirely were those which still existed for the spiritual advancement of the reader but which focused the mind on the sufferings of the innocent persecuted or the vile behaviour and opinions of their oppressors. An appendix which appears with John Mitchell's A brief directory and plain way how to say the rosary of our blessed Lady contains a collection of `certain Godly prayers' which includes one `for the maintenance of the Catholic faith' : `0 sweet Jesus, forbid this pitiful destruction from thy Christian flock, and comfort thy church in these our days so grievously disquieted with 76S ee Dom Raymond Webster, `Richard Broughton "A priest in persecution, "' Downside Review, 54(1936), pp. 495-514. 77R ichard Broughton, A manual of prayers used by the fathers of the primitive church... Wherein by the very prayers of the apostles and their successors (here related without any word or syllable added or altered) all the chiefest questions now in controversy are invincibly proved for the holy doctrine of the present Roman church, by which we are instructed how to believe and what to practice in devotion. The first chapter containeth prayers concerning justification, which is not by faith alone (England, secret press, 1618), STC 3899, sig. Air. 185 controversies and at last join them with the Catholic church in unity of mind, which be carried from it by contrary opinions. ' 78 John Heigham's A devout exposition of the Holy Mass includes a petition in which the reader will beseecht he deity to re-establish the Eucharist in England and put an end to the sacrileges committed against the sacrament.7 9 Edward Maihew's A paradise of prayers and meditations: gathered out of divers authors includes some less traditional, but urgently needed prayers and petitions: `That thou reduce and bring all the peers of the realm of England to the unity of the Catholic faith and obedience of the church; ' `that thou vouchsafe graciously to hear the wailings and sighs of the Catholics. ' 80A nd concerning the Eucharist the reader will pray: `That thou grant the life giving and perpetual sacrifice of the church be set up, retained and worthily celebrated in England. ' 8' In addition to placing in the hands of English Catholics specific petitions to restore the church in their country and to overturn heresy, Catholic authors and editors adapted an ancient form of devotional literature to meet the specific needs of those who continued to suffer for the faith at home. Lives of saints and martyrologies retained their popularity among English Catholics, even though it was now impossible that they should be as readily available to the English reader who sought the particular edification - and entertainment - that they provided. Traditional examples of the genre are, however, well- 78J ohn Mitchell, A brief directory and plain way how to say the rosary of our blessed Lady: with meditations for such as are not exercises therein (Bruges, 1576), STC 17136, sig. C3'. 79JohnH eigham, A devout exposition of the Holy Mass (Douai, 1614). 80EdwardM aihew, A paradise of prayers and meditations: gatheredo ut of divers authors (Douai, 1613), STC 17197, sig. *** iv`. 81I bid, sig. Oo6`. 186 represented: The history of the angelical virgin glorious S Clare; 82T he life of the holy father S. Francis; 83T he admirable life of St Wenefride; 84T he life of the blessed Virgin Saint Catharine of Sienna85a re included with the lives of contemporary saints - men and women of the Counter-Reformation who became holy through their efforts to eradicate heresy, error or religious laxity wherever it was found: The admirable life of S Francis Xavier; 86 The life of B. Aloysius Gonzaga;8 7a nd The life of the mother Teresa of Jesus, foundress of the monasteries of the descalced or bare-footed Carmelite nuns and friars; 88 The life of Gregory Lopes that great servant of God, native of Madrid; 89 The life of B. Father Ignatius of Loyola, author and founder of the Society of Jesus;9 0a llowed the English reader to encounter the universality of the Catholic church, and associated him or her to a much larger movement and much more powerful church than the pitiful, persecuted community that was Catholicism in England. 91 These foreign, holy, and wholly exotic men and women might have fascinated the English reader, and it was certainly hoped that they would be encouraged and edified by their example. But what is even 82L uke Wadding, The history of the angelical virgin glorious S Clare (Douai, 1635), STC 24924. 83Anthony Maria Browne, trans., The life of the holy father S. Francis, written by saint Bonaventure (Douai, 1610), STC 3271. 84J ohn Falconer, trans., The admirable life of Saint Wenefride virgin, martyr, abbess, and patroness of Wales (St Omer, 1635), STC 21102. 85J ohn Fen, trans., The life of the blessedv irgin, saint Catharine of Sienna (Douai, 1609), STC 4830. 86T homas Fitzherbert, trans., [? ] The admirable life of S. Francis Xavier (St Omer, 1632), STC 24140. 87R. S., The life of B. Aloysius Gonzaga of the Society of Jesus, eldest son of Ferdinand prince of the S. R. Empire (St Omer, 1627), STC 4912. 88Michael Walpole, trans., The life of the mother Teresa of Jesus, foundress of the monasteries of the descalced or bare-footed Carmelite nunes and friars (Antwerp, 1611), STC 23948.5. 89Thomas White, trans., The life of Gregory Lopes that great servant of God, native of Madrid (Paris, 1638) STC 16828. 90M ichael Walpole, trans., The life of B. Father Ignatius of Loyola, author and founder of the Society of Jesus( St Omer, 1610), STC 20967. 187 more fascinating, and what possessede ven greater potential for edification was the book that told the story of a new type of martyr, less exotic to be sure, but no less powerful or encouraging. In fact, the familiar, ordinary aspect of these books made them all the more appealing, at least for the authors and editors who saw in the contemporary English martyr, the faithful Catholic who only recently died under the current persecution, a perfect model for the suffering recusant and a perfect foil to the faithless schismatic. `Countless is the number of books, ' Father Persons wrote in a letter of March 1582, ̀ dialogues, treatises , poems, satires, which have been composed and published, some in print, some in manuscript, in praise of these martyrs and in blame of their 92 adversaries. ' The secular priest John Mush, who had been the spiritual director of the York martyr Margaret Clitherow, begins his record of her martyrdom with these words: It hath been laudable custom in all ages, from the beginning of Christ His Church, to publish and truly set forth the singular virtues of such her children as either in their lives by rare goodness did shine above the rest, or by their patient deaths most stoutly overcame all barbarous cruelty, and both by their lives and deaths glorified God, encouraged to like victories their faithful brethren, and with invincible fortitude confounded the persecuting tyrants.9 3 91S ee Peter Burke, `How to become a Counter-Reformation Saint, ' in Religion and Society in Early Modern Europe, Kasper von Greyerz, ed. (London, 1984), pp. 45-55. 90L. Hicks, Letters and Memorials of Father Robert Persons, S. J.: vol. I (to 1588), CRS, 39 (London, 1942), p. 133. 93M ush was deeply involved in the Appelant controversy with the Jesuits and composed A dialoge betwixt a secular priest, and a lay gentleman. Being an abstract of the most important matters that are in controversy betwixt the priests and the Spanish or Jesuitical faction (Rheims, 1601), STC 25124. John Mush, A true report of the life and Martyrdom of Mrs. Margaret Clitherow in John Morris, ed. The Troubles of our Catholic Forefathers, Third Series, (London, 1877), p. 360. 188 This laudable custom of recording the sufferings and executions, always most unjust and even more unpleasant, was being perpetuated for two reasons: to edify those who heard or read the stories of these heroic deeds, and to encourage them to emulate the virtues of fortitude and constancy which were required of them as they suffered their own persecution. `These works made England into a show-piece of the Counter-Reformation, an example of the strength of the Church militant and the cruelty of the Protestants.' 94 The function of the idea of persecution and martyrdom in Catholic literature was to give confidence and encouragement to the faithful in England. The ill-treatment suffered by Elizabethan Catholics helped to prove that their cause was righteous: it connected them in some way with the suffering of the Israelites, of the martyrs of the primitive Church, of Christ himself. By the same token, the barbarity and cruelty of the English heretics in a way proved their theological falsehood and put them on a level with the persecutors of the early Church. 95 Contemporary martyrologies were without any doubt devotional works. Like other works of this genre, martyrologies caused the reader to reflect not only on the sufferings below, but ultimately on the rewards above. To the English Catholic of the first part of the seventeenth century, few places would have been as remote as the exotic island of Japan. But the book which appeared in 1630, describing the martyrdom of Jesuits missionaries, with the title The palm of Christian fortitude. Or the glorious combats of Christians in Japonia did not dwell on what was different or distant, but on what was similar and familiar: Catholics suffering for their faith. The preface by the Jesuit Fr Rodriguez Girao was nothing less than invigorating (and certainly why it was 94P eter Holmes, Resistancea nd Compromise: The Political Thought of Elizabethan Catholics (Cambridge, 1982), p. 48. 189 translated into English): `In their deaths they blaze forth rare, divine, miraculous examples of heroical fortitude, whereby the peerless lustre of primitive martyrdom is renewed in these days, to show the never decaying merit of the precious Immaculate Blood, in whose shining candour all Martyrs, 96 ancient and recent, made white their triumphal robes.' The purpose of the martyrology in the English context is no better expressed than in the preface to this work which describes Catholic beliefs and practices as being well-worthy of sacrifice and suffering: The light of the Christian roman religion, which from thee 0 Catholic Europe, Japonia received, is here returned back again with interest, & increase, adorned with glorious victories, which by virtue thereof to the amazement of infidels over Paganism she hath obtained; by thy religion, I say, professing and practising veneration of relics, adoration of the Cross, prayer unto saints, devotion unto pardons, hearing of Holy Mass, divine worship of venerable Eucharist, Sacramental Confession of sins, the saying of angelical salutations to the B. Virgin in a set number of beads.. .T his light of religion to the splendour of her shining victories improved, she sends thee back, to drive away the darkness of heresy, that overshades some part of thy dominions, to discover the blasphemy of their conceit, who think thy religion idolatrous, and to open their eyes, that by the light of new triumphs they may discern who be the heirs of Ancient Truth, and not to doubt, but in that Church is found the light of Apostolic Faith, where the vigour of Apostolicall Fortitude by the victory of torments and death to the overthrow of idolatry flameth. 97 Endurance, fortitude, suffering in the face of injustice and resistance to a hostile regime- `confounding persecuting tyrants'- these were the tools of the polemicist whose aim was to convince and cajole, to provide arguments and 95Ibid,p . 48. 96E dmund Neville, trans., The palm of Christian fortitude. Or the glorious combats of Christians in Japonia. Taken out of letters of the Society of Jesusf rom thence (St Omer, 1624), STC 18482, sig. *3'. 97I bid, sig. *3`-*4`. 190 reasons for a certain behaviour. In the present context the behaviour was recusancy, and the tool used to forge that behaviour was the martyrology. These were books for moments of weakness, when temptation to conform was overwhelming, when financial hardship was unbearable or a period in prison unimaginable. The messagew as clear: English men - and even English women - had been given the strength to endure the worst torments that the Government could inflict - and now they were at peace and suffered no longer: now they wore the martyr's crown. Martyrologies had always been regarded as a tremendously effective means of perpetuating the faith - whatever that faith may have been. That some men and women were willing to suffer terrible deaths for their religion has always caused other men and women of perhaps less fearless resolve to pause and consider their own dedication to their faith. The new Catholic martyrologies which appeared in manuscript and print did not recount the heroism of earlier centuries, but set forth the lives and deaths of those Catholic English men and women who had only recently paid the ultimate price for their fidelity98. Like other devotional texts, martyrologies could encourage 98H enry More of the Society of Jesus, writing his history of the order in England, testified to the enduring devotion of English Catholics towards their martyred countrymen: `While these martyrs were being torn asunder, the Catholics did their best to retrieve at least a few of their remains. But their enemies exercised great care to prevent this. One young gentleman, however, pushing through the people around him, let his handkerchief fall in order to get it soaked in Campion's blood, or at least that it might collect a few drops. But his attempt was instantly noticed and he was seized and put in jail. All the same, while he was being arrested, another took the opportunity in the general confusion to cut off Campion's finger and make off with it.. Another . young man secretly offered £20 of our money to the executioner for a single joint of Father Campion's forger, but he did not dare to give it. Their clothes were much sought after by Catholics... but so far they have not been able to get anything. It is thought that their enemies tried to burn everything so that nothing should fall into the hands of the Catholics. ' Henry More, ed. The Elizabethan Jesuits: `Historia missionis Anglicanae Societatis Jesu' (1660) of Henry More (London, 1981), p. 137. Cardinal Allen remarks on the phenomenon in his A brief history of the glorious martyrdom of xii. reverend priests `Marry, that is most notable and memorable, that divers devout people of our nation that can get no part of their sacred relics, yet come as it were in pilgrimage to the places where their quarters 191 holiness in the reader. But they could also be used to advertise to a much wider audience the unjust oppression of a cruel tyrant. `Almost every martyrology had political significance, indirectly if not directly. In some works.. the Catholic princes of Europe . were called upon to overcome the oppressor and to avenge the murder of the Faithful. '99 The first of these complete martyrologies was compiled by the secular priest John Wilson. ' 00I t appeared in 1608 with the title The English martyrology containing a summary of the lives of the glorious and renowned saints of England, Scotland and Ireland... Whereunto is annexed in the end a catalogue of those, who have suffered death in England for defence of the Catholic cause since King HeM the 8. his breech with the Sea [sic] Apostolic unto this day. '°' It was impossible to miss the point that Wilson was making in the title. Those English men and women who were executed even within recent memory -'unto this day,' in fact - belonged to very same company of glorious saints and martyrs that had been from antiquity the object of veneration by English Catholics. Wilson and other martyrologists recognised or heads be set up, under pretense of gazing and asking whose heads or bodies they be and what traitors they were.. .t here, to do their devotion & prayers unto them, whose lives they knew to be so innocent and deaths so glorious before God and the world. ' (Rheims, 1582), STC 369.5, sig. cvii". The High Commission Book for York 1572-1574 records that William Tessymond had confessed that `he had in his chest certain hairs taken from the beard of the late executed Earl of Northumberland which he got after the execution by cutting it off himself when the head was in the Tollbooth on Ousebridget o be set upon the stake.' J. C. H. Aveling, Catholic Recusancyi n York (London, 1970), p. 171. 99A . G. Petti, `Richard Verstegan and Catholic martyrologies of the later Elizabethan peiod, ' RH, 5 (1959), pp. 64-65. i°° J. T. Rhodes, `English books of martyrs and saints of the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries, ' RH, 22 (1994), p. 11. 101J ohn Wilson, The English martyrology (St Omer, 1608), STC 25771. The Bar Convent edition includes several pages, in Wilson's own hand, on which he adds to the namesp rinted in the book those who died for their faith after the date of the book's printing. In the same year, Thomas Worthington produced a similar list with the nearly identical title A Catalogue of Martyrs in England for profession of the Catholic faith, since the year of out Lord 1535, being the 27 of King Henry the viii: unto this year 1608 the 6 of King James( Douai, 1608), STC 26000,1608. Cardinal Allen made his own contribution to this particular causew ith: A 192 at least three benefits in making martyrs of executed Catholics. First, these martyrologies drew an unbroken line from the Catholicism of the pre- Reformation English church whose martyrs had been universally recognised in England, to the persecuted, scattered and hidden members of the contemporary Catholic community. Second, they placed in sharp relief for a Catholic audience the cruelty of the regime under which they lived, preparing them for the sufferings, that were the price of fidelity. And finally, by raising those Catholics who suffered death by execution, starvation or disease to the glory of the altars, they offered the martyrs not only as a source of inspiration and example amidst their own hardships, but as powerful and - what is more significant - familiar allies in heaven. ̀ Neither simply witness for the Gospel nor typical followers of Christ, the recent Catholic martyrs were new saints in heaven, instantly available as intercessors for potential supplicants. ' 102 The danger of creating such an association was hardly lost on the Protestant establishment. Of course, it was well within the literary and polemical tradition for the ruling party, those who gathered the faggots or assembled the gallows, to respond to such martyrologies by claiming that `the victims were not true martyrs, but desperatef anatics who committed suicide by hurling themselves against the machinery of public authority, thereby provoking a just retribution for their crimes. ' 103 Such was clearly the opinion of the anonymous author of The fiery trial of God's saints, the Protestant response to Wilson's martyrology which had brief history of the glorious martyrdom of the xii. reverend priests , executed within these twelve months for confession and defense of the Catholic faith (Rheims, 1582), STC 369.5. 102B rad Gregory, Salvation at Stake: Christian Martyrdom in Early Modern Europe (Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1999), p. 252. 103D avid Loades, Martyrs and Ma ologies (Oxford, 1993), p. xv. 193 been penned to silence `the unjust clamours of papists frequently crying out both in words and writings of breech of promise, blood and bloody persecutions for conscience.' 104C atholics who were executed, he claims, were justly condemned for their treason, unlike the godly Protestant martyrs who were killed in the reign of Mary for their faith and conscience. The statistical exercise he offers as an appendix to the book and which he calls `A tabular compilation by a comparative collection of all such martyrs as were burned in queen Mary's days, with all such priests, Jesuits, & popish recusants as their psuedomartyrologist I. W. pretends, and (but pretends) to have been executed in England' is an attempt to demonstrate how much greater was the Protestants' suffering in the short reign of Mary, than the Catholics' in Elizabeth's lengthy tenure. 105 To do this, he lays out two chronological lists: the names included in Foxe's Book of Martyrs and the list of `pseudomartyrs' provided by Wilson in his Martyrology. Demonstrating his accuracy and fairness in the matter, or to point out Wilson's shoddy attention to detail, he even adds to Wilson's catalogue the names of the Jesuit William Weston and William Clark, whom Wilson failed to include: `I know not how by the pseudomartyrologist omitted, ' the author says, ̀ for he might well have enrolled them as those which he hath done, being all alike, traitors to their prince and country. ' 106T he book is an example of one of the great ironies of the period's polemical literature. Normally, it would have been difficult for an English Catholic to come by a 104A non., The fiery trial of God's saints; as counter-poiset o I. W. priest his English martyrology (London, 1611), STC 24269, sig. A3r. 105Ib id, sig. G2'-I3". 106Ib id, sig. B4r. 194 copy of Wilson's Ma rology. 107I t 1611 that all changed when it could be easily obtained simply by purchasing a copy of The fiery trial of God's saints. In addition to the catalogues which listed the names of England's Catholic martyrs, the day and place of their execution, there also appeared several detailed accounts of individual martyrdoms. A true report of the death and martyrdom of M. Campion Jesuit and Priest &M Sherwin, & M. Briant priests 108a nd the Life and death of MT Edmund Geninges, Priest'09 both occasioned responsesf rom the Protestant press.' 10 Certainly, no English Catholic could have read John Mush's moving account of the arrest, torture and cruel death of Margaret Clitherow, the housewife from York convicted for harbouring priests, without some degree of fury directed at the heretics who would permit such an unjust affair, nor without being to some degree edified and spiritually uplifted at the heroic example of one very much like themselves: a Catholic who refused to conform to the practices of a schismatic and heretical church, who suffered ostracism and persecution as a result of that decision and yet who never wavered in her 107` Many' copies the of the book were confiscated in 1609 `from a Dutch priest in his house' by the informant William Udall. P. R. Harris, `The reports of William Udall, informer 1605- 1612, ' R H, 8 (1965), p. 245. 108T he execution of Campion caused an uproar not only in England and in English literature, but on the continent as well. See Richard Simpson's Edmund Campion: A biography (London, 1867) pp. 493-499 for a the list of works related to the event in English, Latin, French, Italian, German, and Spanish. 109J ohn Gennings was a layman in 1602 when he published his life of his elder brother, Edmund, who was martyred in 1591. The act was the occasion for John's conversion. Another edition was republished in 1614, after John had become a Franciscan. A. F. Allison, `Franciscan books in English, 1559-1640, ' R H, 3 (1955), p. 17. Thomas Alfield, A true report of the death & martyrdom of M. Campion Jesuit (England, secret press, 1582), STC 4537 and John Gennings, The Life and death of M' Edmund Geninges, Priest (St Omer, 1614), STC 11728. "o See for example William Elderton, A triumph for true subjects and a terror unto all traitors. By the example of the late death of E. Campion (London, 1581), STC 7564 and Richard Sheldon, A survey of the miracles of the church of Rome (London, 1616), STC 22399. 195 resolve to remain faithful to the Catholic church. 111I n John Mush's account, Margaret Clitherow is held up not only for her piety and good works, but for her recusancy and for her unwavering resolve in the face of unrelenting persecution: She was in dying one quarter of an hour, a sharp stone as much as a man's fist put under her back; upon her was laid to the quantity of seven or eight hundred weight, at the least, which breaking her ribs, caused them to burst forth the skin. Thus most victoriously this gracious martyr overcame all her enemies, passing [from] this mortal life with marvellous triumph into the peaceable city of God, there to receive a worthy crown of endless immortality and joy. 112 The martyrdom of Margaret Clitherow won for the `Maid of York' the crown of victory, but it was the martyrology of John Mush which won for her an enduring reputation among English Catholics. Virtue, heroism, integrity and holiness - all of these were required of the martyr. But for the martyrdom to be effective as an instrument of conversion or a source of encouragement it must be recounted - orally or in print. The martyr's blood was, of course, not enough. Ink as well as blood was required to make the martyr's sacrifice a potent weapon against heterodoxy and a potent symbol of the triumph over evil. The gallows, however, were not considered the only option for the Catholic. We have seen that church papistry, conforming to the established 11 In his dedicatory epistle to the martyr's daughter, Mush writes: `You may tell unto men how dishonourable a thing it were unto them for a woman produced out of the weakest part of nature, to outgo them not only in moral supernatural virtues, but in suffering death also for the constant profession of the Catholic faith: and before women you may advance this royal standard of your victorious mother inviting them like stout Amazons to bid battle unto life .... their spiritual enemies. ' An abstract of the and martyrdom of mistress Margaret Clitherow, who suffered in the year of our Lord 1586, (Mechlin, 1619), STC 18316.7, sig. Aiii'. 112M orris The Troubles of our Catholic Forefathers, series 3, (London, 1877), p. 432. 196 religion, was believed by many - including some clerics of no mean standing - to be a legitimate alternative to fines, imprisonment or death. The argument of this chapter maintains that devotional literature was often used as a polemical device to move the Catholic towards what was considered by many to be the only legitimate option: recusancy. The recusant, the English man and women who had abjured heresy, even to the point of forsaking one's closest kin, was held up as an ideal and realistic model. In 1623 the seminary priest Robert Rookwood113t ranslated from the French original The life of the reverend Fa. Angel Joyeuse Capuchin preacher...T ogether with the lives of the reverend fathers, Father Bennet Englishman, and Father Archangel Scotchman, of the same order. 114T he two hagiographies included with that of Fr Angel of Joyeuse - French nobleman turned Capuchin friar - are excellent examples of the recruitment of the non- martyr recusant for the advancement the Catholic cause. Benet of Canfield and Archangel Scotchman, were both converts to the faith, and it is their conversion to orthodoxy, not martyrdom, which is seen as the real triumph. Benet of Canfield was born William Fitch. He was himself the author of The rule of perfection containing a brief and perspicuous abridgement of all John Mush's account, written only months after martyrdom in 1586, was originally circulating in manuscript, one copy of which exists in the Bar Convent, York. 13 This was not the Robert Rookwood who was dismissed from the Society of Jesus in 1632 and who the Protestant apologist John Gee describes as a `little black fellow, very compt and gallant, lodging about the midst of Drury lane acquainted with collapsed ladies. ' (Harmsen, John Gee's `Foot out of the Snare, p. 253; Anstruther, Seminary Priests, II, p. 271) Rather, it was the Rookwood, alias Rawley, who would become the confessor to the Poor Clares at Gravelines and Rouen. 114R obert Rookwood, The life of the reverend Fa. AngelJoyeuse Capuchin preacher...T ogether with the lives of the reverend fathers, Father Bennet Englishman, and Father Archangell Scotchman,o f the sameo rder (Douai, 1623), STC 3902. Gillow attributes the French original life of Angel Joyeuset o J. Brousse and the lives of William Fitch (Canfield) and John Forbes (Archangel) to FaustinusD iestensis.G ILLOW,v ol. 3, pp. 343-4. 197 the whole spiritual life, a devotional book which enjoyed enormous success. 115 The book was Fitch's greatest contribution to the Counter-Reformation in England, but it was closely rivalled by his own example as set forth by Rookwood in his translation. The polemical purpose of the text is immediately apparent and no reader who found himself or herself faced with the painful choice between conformity and recusancy could have been left in any doubt as to which was the preferred, indeed, the only legitimate option. The bibliographer T. A. Birrell is partly correct is his assessmento f the three `lives' when he says that `They certainly suffer from the common failings of Baroque hagiography. Edification comes before information, and sighs and tears and pious ejaculations occur with rather monotonous regularity. ' 116 Martyrology and hagiography were designed to edify, and to stir up devotion in the lives of the reader. But this book is not simply a call to greater holiness. It has a more immediate and a more proximate goal than the sanctity of the reader. To discover what this is, one can ask a very basic question: why did Robert Rookwood choose to tell their story? They were not saints. They were not martyred for their beliefs. They were not, as far as one can tell, the objects of popular veneration. Certainly, more well-known, and even more heroic 115W illiam Fitch, the rule of perfection containing a brief and perspicuous abridgement of all the whole spiritual life (Rouen, 1609), STC 10928. Composed originally in French, the author himself translated the Rule into English `from the language wherein I made it. ' It was reprinted in French nine times. Five editions appeared in Latin from 1610 - 1630; four in Flemish from 1622 - 1631; three in German from 1625 - 1633. A single Italian edition was printed in Venice in 1616 and a Spanish translation in 1629. The English edition, printed by Cardin Hamilion in Rouen, contains two dedications, first `To the R. and most devout Lady Abbess of the order of St Briget: to his two cousins Wisemans of the same Order, and to all the rest of that holy family at Lisbon', signed `your poor Brother and Cousin in Christ Jesus, B. Benet, called heretofore, W. Fitch; ' and second, `To Religious English women of the convent of S. Ursula at Louvain and of S. Benet at Bruxells, and particularly to his devout cousins Wisemans in both houses, and to all other Religious of our Nation in Flanders. ' 116T . A. Birrell, ed. The lives of An egd e Joyeuse and Benet Canfield by Jacques Brousse (London, 1959), p. vii. 198 models of the Christian life could be found for English readers desperate for spiritual comfort. The key is not only in the holiness or heroism of the subjects - the usual criteria for an author's attention - but in their nationalities. These were the stories of - if not well known characters - at least familiar ones: the Englishman William Fitch and the Scot John Forbes. They were natives, men who were confronted with the same dilemma as many English and Scottish men and women currently faced. In the case of Fitch, the translator Rookwood draws a clear connection between the Capuchin and the reader when he says: He was an Englishman by nation and I may say by predestination, and benediction; whence those that are drenched and buried in error, may see that God doth never refuse sufficiency of grace to draw them forth seeing that even in this realm (heretofore a dear child of the church, and afterwards separatedb y God's secretj udgement) there are whom doth extraordinarily call unto him by special grace: for although the exercise of Catholic religion be forbidden and suppressed,y et are there many fervent and zealous souls, which will not (though it be with peril of their lives) do anything which is contrary to God and the church's commandments.1 17 The story of Fr Archangel, vere John Forbes, is not unlike that of Father Benet. Both were born of well-to-do families; in the case of Benet of Canfield it was to the gentry, in the case of Fr Archangel it was to the nobility. I 18B oth were in their youth Protestants; both converted to the Catholic church and both joined the Counter-Reformation reform of the Franciscans, the Capuchins. Forbes's mother was a Catholic, but she had married `Count or Baron Forbes' who, we are told, was born to a family `very 117R ookwood, The life of the reverend Fa. Angel JoyeuseC apuchin preacher, sig. Aa4`. 118H is mother was Margaret Gordon, daughter of the earl of Huntley. 199 rich in earthly substance' but `very poor in soul, as being an obstinate heretic. ' 119O f course, as the reader will learn from the account of the marriage, which occupies a considerable portion of the text, nothing good could come from the union of a noble, pious Catholic and an ignoble, impious, heretic. She suffered greatly at his hands, which sufferings Brousse recounts `the rather to encourage Catholics in their miseries by this 120 example'. Encouraging Catholics who suffered under hostile Protestants to persevere in their faith was one of the essential aspects of the genre of devotional/polemical literature. The other was, of course, persuading them not to attend Protestant sermons which, it was believed, could infect the minds and damage the souls of the most well-intentioned Catholic. Association with Protestant doctrine was something, therefore, to be avoided at any cost. Marriage to a Protestant created for the Catholic in this regard an almost impossible situation. It is this situation that the latter part of the book addresses. It is the real purpose of An historical narration of the conversion and conversation of F. Archangel, born of a noble family in Scotland, of the order of S. Francis, of those who are called Capuchins, and of the Lady Margaret Gordon, His mother to demonstrate to the reader ̀ the unhappy successo f marriage between those who differ in religion. ' 121 So fundamental were the differences between Catholic doctrine and Protestant beliefs that any peaceful union between adherents of the two religions would prove impossible. `For what participation hath justice with iniquity? Or what society 19 Rookwood, The life of the reverend Fa. Angel JoyeuseC apuchin preacher, sig. Aaaa4" 120Ib id, sig. Aaa4". 200 is there between light and darkness, and what agreement with Christ and Belial, or what part hath the faithful with the infidel? ' 122 The early life of John Forbes and the later persecution for his religion that he experienced at the hand of his Protestant father provided the author with the opportunity to decry what was an entirely unacceptable, even abominable practice. The difficulties associated with the union were lamentable enough, but the product of that union, the religious upbringing and ultimately even the salvation of the offspring, were the most crucial issues to be addressedi n the text: Besides what will become of their children, the fruit of marriage? Are they not all in danger of being infected with heresies? Yea is it not countenanced betwixt such persons that the sons be brought up in the father's religion and the daughters in the mother's? What more cruel and detestable covenant than this, to beget children to be burned in the eternal flames of hell? And what can be more impious than that parents should have so little regard what faith and religion their children profess? Some lukewarm Catholics will answer me; yea but we will provide that the children be brought up Catholiquely. How dangerous is this adventure? Who knoweth whether of these shall prevail most with their children? Who can judge whether carnal affection with the corrupt inclination to ill, will not sway more than true reasons to good? 123 What then was the purpose of these texts? Was it simply to display before the eyes of English readers models of heroism and holiness? Was it simply to provide them with pious entertainments which would distract them from the constant worries and real hardships that they endured because of their religion? This may have been the case in many of the lives and martyrologies 12I1b id, sig. Aaa4". '22lbid, sig. Aaa5`. 123lbid, sig. Aaar". 201 still available to a Catholic audience, but these new texts which recounted the constancy and the resolve of these English heroes had a new purpose. The reader could not fail to notice that the real holiness of the subjects - demonstrated, perhaps, by those sighs and tears and pious ejaculations - was only achieved, only fully realised, after he or she had repudiated heresy, only after he or she had renounced family and friends, and only after he or she had returned to the Catholic church. When Margaret Clitherow was asked ̀ Why refuse you to come to our church, we having so plain and sure testimonies to show on our side of the truth, ' she replied not with scripture, nor with patristic evidence, nor with sophisticated arguments more appropriate for erudite clerics than for a butcher's wife: `I am not aminded to your church, God defend I should, for I have been within the Catholic faith twelve years, I thank God; and if I should now fear or faint, all that I have done heretofore were in vain, and I wish rather to die. ' 124 The polemical intention of these devotional texts was not to instruct the reader in the particulars of Catholic doctrine nor to point out the specific errors of the Protestant religion. Rather, they called the reader to an increased vigilance lest apathy or time dull their awarenesso f the distressing state of affairs in which `all honesty, virtue and good life hath been forsaken and abandoned and on the contrary side, vice and iniquity hath wholly swayed and overruled the same.' 125T he subjects of the martyrologies and hagiographies were presented as models of correct belief and as exemplars of correct behaviour. Turning away from schism and abandoning heresy was correct 124J ohn Morris, The troubles of our Catholic Forefathers.T hird Series, p. 421. 125R ookwood, The life of the reverend Fa. Angel Joyeuse Capuchin preacher, sig. Aa4". 202 behaviour. Thus, Benet of Canfield was held up to the reader as an example of what could be achieved with the grace of God and with a determined will: `for he that sucked heresy with his mother's milk... grew to be nourished and fed with sweet liquor and grace.. he that from his . cradle tainted with the impurities of Puritans, and took contentment therein, was cleansed from this filth, and brought into the bosom of the pure, and true church of God, the Catholic, Apostolic, Roman church... ' 126T he books provided the author with an opportunity to place in the mouths of these heroes pious soliloquies on the truth of the Catholic faith and acerbic attacks against the errors of Protestantism. It was, in this example, an opportunity to hear the truth from a pious friar rather than a learned Jesuit: `this is the state of our poor country since Catholic religion hath been overthrown: there hath been as it were the general deluge of vice and iniquity, and the very outward face of all virtue and honesty hath been thus disfigured: where it came to pass that my enormous manner of life appeared not so foul in this miserable country, as when it was in another Egypt, the darkness whereof were so gross and so palpable, that they might in a manner be cut with a knife. ' 127 These were not abstract, theoretical musings emerging from the continental centres of the Counter-Reformation, but were the testimonies of their own countrymen and women - perhaps even their neighbours - and for In this, at least William Fitch differed from John Forbes. While the former sucked heresy with his mother's milk, the mother of the latter was not willing to commit her son to the care of a Protestant wetnurse: ̀ She was not ignorant that it did not little avail for the infusion of piety to tender age, with nurse's milk children are nourished: and therefore she thought it no pain to nourish him of her own milk, whom she had nourished of her own bowels. Wherein many noble women are to be blamed, who refuse to undergo the travails of nourishing their own babes. Hence it cometh to passt hat committing them to other nurses,t hey drink in also corrupt and divers mannersw ith the milk they suck from them.' Sig. Aaa8'-' 127Ibid,s ig. Aa7r. 203 many English readers, the words and actions of these English martyrs and confessors would have been far more meaningful and infinitely more convincing than the weighty and learned tomes issuing from Douai. William Allen must have been saddenedw hen he heard about the capture of Edmund Campion, and he certainly realised that the Jesuit would not be allowed to live. But Allen was well aware of the potential power of a martyr and was `convinced that nothing has happened more happy or wonderful than it for the advancement of religion. ' 128 Realising the untold benefits of an unjust and cruel death, martyrologists like Wilson and Worthington enlisted martyrs like Campion and Clitherow to accomplish by their deaths what they could not accomplish while they lived. The Catholic church in England could only continue to live, it was believed, if it did not allow its martyrs to die. In sixteenth and seventeenth century England politics and piety simply could not be divorced. Praying, in whatever shapet hat devotion took, was always a political act. That is certainly why Catholics frequently relied on prayer books, Psalters, litanies, lives, and martyrologies to bolster the allegiance of English Catholics. Their rationale was based on a very simple principle: the Catholic simply could not advance in the spiritual life without first confronting the schism and rejecting it outright. It was obvious to everyone involved in the English mission that people could not have a right relationship with God while their relationship with his church was uncertain or wavering. The devout life, the life of holiness and godliness was too easily 128P atrick Ryan, ed. ̀ Some correpsondenceo f Cardinal Allen, 1579-1585', CRS, 9 (1911), p. 39. See Eamon Duffy. `William Cardinal Allen, 1.532-1594' , R H, 22 (1995), 278-279. 204 shaken in those days, too easily lost. For many authors and editors - not for all but for many - it was not enough for Catholics to be provided with prayers that would raise their minds and souls to God and distract them from the contentions and controversies that swirled everywhere around them. Experience had proven that vigilance was required and that every opportunity had to be taken to encourage those who found themselves in the parish church on a Sunday morning to forsake their error and be reconciled with the church of their ancestors. Every opportunity needed to be taken to reach an unknown population who daily lived under the threat of fines, imprisonment or worse, to reassure them and console them, to convince them that their sufferings were not in vain. The devotional book provided one such opportunity and those involved with the literary campaign to wrest their countrymen and women from the clutches of heresy did not overlook it. They realised that there were English Catholics - who knew how many? - more inclined to read the interesting `life' of a saintly English gentleman than a pamphlet on the number of sacraments or a lengthy discourse on the papal pedigree. But devotion and edification need not be lacking instruction and even propaganda. These might well, and easily, be included in the pages of devotional works, in a manual of prayers or in an instruction on how to live a holy life. Devotional books were enlisted in ever greater numbers to inspire and to encourage, to convince and to persuade, and to give to those tempted, overburdened and overwhelmed Catholics the encouragement the priest could no longer, or only very rarely provide. Chapter Five: The dissemination of Catholic devotional literature `Books for edification and prayer are committed to the flame: whatsoever serveth us to devotion is destroyed.' Ralph Buckland, Seven Sparks of the Enkindled Soul. ' The incessant stream of legislation regulating `seditious' books indicates that accesst o Catholic literature was impeded by official constraints only to a limited, and unsatisfactory degree.2 Catholic books were making their way into England, and in great numbers. The large number of extant copies of devotional books is not the only evidence that supports this. We can call upon other sources as well to confirm the relative successo f the Catholic printing industry in the face of an unrelenting programme of official repression and reprisals. A confiscated Catholic book indicates at least a small victory in the battle between the government and the Catholic press. But a victory for whom? By the time it had been confiscated the book had almost certainly been read. By how many and over how many years? How many servants and children, who could not read themselves, had listened to another read from the ' Ralph Buckland, Seven Sparks of the Enkindled Soul (England, secret press , 1603-5), STC 4008, sig. Fviii`. 2A royal proclamation of 1 March 1569 commanded the queen's subjects `not to keep or read any seditious book, upon pain of her majesty's grievous indignation, and to be punished severely, as the quality and circumstances. of the offense shall require and deserve. ' (STC 8014.5 and P. L. Hughes and J. F. Larkin, Tudor Royal Proclamations, vol. 2 (New Haven, 1969), pp. 311-312. A proclamation of July 1570 ordered the surrender of `traitorous books and bulls, ' the latter clearly referring to the papal decree which excommunicated Elizabeth earlier in the year. (STC 8032 and Hughes and Larkin, Tudor Royal Proclamations, vol. 2, p. 342. Another proclamation in that year warned that anyone who kept those `seditious books, writings, or bulls in print or written' would be punished as `abettors and maintainers of the principal traitors that were authors of the same.' (STC 8035 and Hughes and Larkin, Tudor Royal Proclamations, vol. 2, p. 348. Three years later it was decreed that Catholic books had been `esteemed, judged, and condemned to be the works of despisers of God's true religion, of obstinate traitors against her majesty's person, estate, and dignity. ' (STC 8064 and Hughes and Larkin, Tudor Royal Proclamations, vol. 2, pp. 378-379. 206 book of Catholic devotions, be it one of pure piety or one which had been, like so many were, generously peppered with apologetics and polemics. How many trusted friends had borrowed the dangerous book to edify not only themselves, but their families and like-minded neighbours? How many eyes had seen the title page adorned with Catholic symbols, or read the printer's preface which encouraged its readers to remain constant in the practice of their faith? The confiscated book symbolises an achievement, but not for the government who had quite obviously failed to keep it out of the country and out of Catholic hands. The confiscated book, rather, points to the success, however limited and temporary, of those who intended to propagate Catholicism in England. It is impossible to gauge with any empirical accuracy the impact these devotional books had on the religious life of the English Catholic community. Data typically used to study printing statistics and reading habits are unavailable to the student of a clandestine literature. The successo f a furtive operation requires secrecy and discretion; the less that was known about the operation, the greater were its chances of survival. The lack of documents which record the process of production and distribution of devotional texts is today certainly a source of some frustration to the student of that literature. It must have been a source of even greater frustration to English authorities who had even less accesst o the meagre paper-trail of Catholic book publishing. There were no bills of lading that revealed the illicit cargo contained in the ship's hull, no booksellers' catalogues which advertised the forbidden texts, no invoices or receipts to record the secret purchases, few personal inventories that included papist titles along with the deceased's 207 almanacs and atlases. In the case of inventories, the surviving relatives no doubt made preparations for the arrival of the probate officials, hiding or dispersing the offending texts so that they would not come to the attention of the authorities. 3 The case of Master Linton, recorded by John Gee in his The foot out of the snare (1624) may indeed have been somewhat remarkable, but it may not have been uncommon: Somewhat remarkable was the death of one Master Richard Linton, Clark, late Parson of the Parish of Middleton in Norfolk, who was popish in opinion and affectation, and consorted himself with sundry Papists of that Country... .o n Thursday, being Christmas day in the morning, there blew a very violent wind, which had continued most part of Wednesday night, & did still endanger a ruinous barn in his yard; whereupon, he came forth to support it: and then whilst he was upholding a tottering part thereof, a strong gust of wind throwing down the barn, a piece of that timber struck him between the shoulders, and pressed him down to the ground, that he instantly died. Immediately after he was dead, his wife burned certain books or writings, to the quantity of some two bushels, as is witnessed by some who stood by; and she sayeth, her husband often charged her to burn them as soon as he was dead: and it is verily believed, they were popish books.4 3 One of the extant copies of the first edition of John Gerard's translation of Lorenzo Scupoli's The spiritual conflict was found walled-up in Rushton Hall, home of the recusant Treshams. See D. M Rogers' introduction to the reprint in the series by Scolar Press, English Recusant Literature, number 8,1968. Brother Henry Foley, S. J. reports in his Records of the En lgis h Province of the Society of Jesus, ̀ Some years ago a most beautiful embossed leather _ casket, iron bound, containing relics of the martyred priests, was found in a cupboard behind the wainscot paneling of the chapel... and a curious printed volume, entitled "A sure haven against shipwreck" was concealed between floor and ceiling. ' (London, 1877) vol. 1. This may be John Pickford's The safeguard from shipwreck, or heaven's haven (Douai, 1618), STC 19073. 4 John Gee, The foot out of the snare (London, 1624), STC 11704, sig. C1 ̀ "". The diary of W. Whiteway also testifies to Linton's conservative religious tendencies, and, considering the late parson's untimely death, a sad premonition. The entry recounts Linton's reaction to the news of the Greyfriars tragedy, when around 300 Catholics were killed while listening to a Catholic sermon: `Rd. Linton, Clerk, late parson of Norfolk, Popishly inclined, having heard of the fall of the house in London, the Sunday next before Christmas preached on the text - "Thou knowest not what evil shall be upon the earth! " and took occasion to say of the accident that he thought most of them were saints and martyrs, and desired to die no worse death. ' Henry Foley Records of the English Province of the Society of Jesus (London, 1887), vol. 1, p. 93. 208 When the Catholic printer James Duckett was preparing for his execution, he instructed his wife `to burn all such books of theirs as were in his house.' 5 How widely accessible were Catholic books? Considering the immense difficulties that challenged author, translator, printer, publisher, factor and agent at every turn, it is truly remarkable just how easy it must have been to acquire Catholic texts. Some evidence, scant and scattered though it may be, demonstrates that it was not impossible for a recusant to come by a prayer-book even under conditions of the most rigorous control and observation, even, that is, in prison. 6 The prison experiences of convicted recusants varied. 7 Early in the reign of Elizabeth some of the more prominent Catholics, like John Feckenham the last abbot of Westminster, were kept in relative comfort, imprisoned in private homes or castles. Those who were under this type of house arrest had accesst o considerable libraries, perhaps even their own. 8 But most were not so fortunate. When Robert Southwell wrote to the rector of the English College in Rome, he described the situation as he saw it firsthand. Those who were imprisoned for their faith always sleep on straw, and their food always consisted of bread and water and a few cooked beans, and on great feasts, by way of indulgence, they were given the entrails of some.a nimal. Moreover, they were kept tied to a manger like beasts, and not content with this, the heretics had a mill made, such as is 5 J. H. Pollen, ed., Unpublished Documents Relating to the English Martyrs, CRS (London, ,5 1908), pp. 390-391. 6 Walsham, `Domme preachers, ' p. 86. 7 Peter Lake and Michael Questier, `Prisons, priests and people, ' in Nicholas Tyacke, ed., England's Long Reformation (London, 1998), p. 198; R. B. Manning, Religion and Socie in Elizabethan Sussex: A Study of the Enforcement of the Religious Settlement, 1558-1603 , (Leicester, 1969), p. 136. 8 See Patrick McGrath and Joy Rowe, ̀ The imprisonment of Catholics for religion under Elizabeth I, ' RH, 20 (1991), pp. 415-435. 209 usually turned by horses, so that Catholics and priests may by employed in turning it, and when they have not done the tasks imposed, they are whipped like galley slaves. 9 Some Catholics were tortured under questioning, but others were simply left to languish in their confinement. Many Catholic prisoners, it appears, were not bereft of all spiritual comfort. Philip Howard, Earl of Arundel, imprisoned for his Catholicism, used to pray the `priestly office' even though he was a layman, and had enough leisure time in prison to engage in other devout practices. In fact he not only possessedd evotional books, but even produced them - albeit with the necessaryc aution and discretion - while confined in the Tower: The rest of the time excepting that little he spent in walking or some other corporal exercise appointed by the physicians, he bestowed either in writing or translating books of piety. One book of Lanspergius containing an Epistle of Jesus Christ to the Faithful Soul he translated out of Latin into English, and caused it to be printed for the furtherance of devotion. ' 0 He wrote also three treatises of the excellency and utility of virtue which never came to light by reason he was forced to send them away upon fear of a search before they were fully perfected and polished. He used to read the spiritual books of F. Luis de Granada very frequently.... Upon Sundays and feasts he used to read some part of the Holy Scriptures with special reverence and humility. ' 1 The Franciscan William Fitch complained in the dedicatory epistle to his Rule of perfection that he had twice attempted to have the book published at a clandestine press while he was in prison. 12 He, too, must have had both the 9 Pollen, Unpublished Documents Relating to the English Martyrs, p. 305. 10T his is An epistle or exhortation of JesusC hrist to the soul, that is devoutly affected toward him (England, secret press , 1592-1593), STC 14626.5. " Cited in Philip Caraman,T he Other Face (London, 1960), p. 168-169. 12W illiam Fitch, The rule of perfection (Rouen, 1609), STC 10928, sig, a8`. 210 leisure and the resources to undertake such an endeavour. 1 3 The Jesuit Thomas Wright in his Disposition and Garnishment of the Soul to receive worthily the Blessed Sacrament records that he dedicates the work to `The virtuous and zealous Matron Mistress S. H. and her religious and fervent son M. R. H.... from my cell at the charterhouse at Mechlin. Yours in Christ T. N. ' Wright was, however, nowhere near Mechlin at the time he dedicated the book in 1596. He was instead in another cell, in a London prison. The deceit was, to be sure, an attempt to throw the authorities off the scent, hiding the facility with which Wright and others could both write their works while in confinement, and smuggle them out of prison to a secret press.1 4O ne who made no attempt to hide his imprisonment was George Cotton who declared that he made his translation of Diego de Estella's The contempt of the world and the vani thereof `From the prison Aprilis 7. Anno Domini. 1584. . nost. capt. 7. ' 15 The articles against John Clark declared that he `disperses a profane catechism' in prison. 16 It took imprisonment, in fact, for the recusant Margaret Clitherow to acquire literacy, which suggestst hat either books or manuscripts were available to her and her tutor. '7 `When she had leisure, ' her 13P riests, like Fitch, were often allowed to practice their ministry in prisons. The community of priests who found themselves at Wisbech were able to lead a life which included common prayers and devotions. 14T homas Wright, Disposition and Garnishment of the Soul to receive worthily the Blessed Sacrament (England, secret press 1596), STC 26038.8, sig. A1r. See GILLow. 15G , eorge Cotton, trans., The contempt of the world and the vanity thereof (Rouen, 1584), STC 10541, sig. A2'. Cotton is listed in 1583 among `Those prisoners yet remaining at the fleet for matters of religion, ' and again in another prison list of 1583. J. H. Pollen, ed., `The official lists of Catholic prisoners during the reign of Queen Elizabeth, part II, 1581-1602, ' in CRS Miscellanea II, CRS, 2 (London, 1906), pp. 223,229. In the examination of Swithin Wells, the martyr reported that he had spent a night at the home of his cousin, the same `George Cottons [sic] of Warblington. ' Pollen, Unpublished Documents Relating to the English Martyrs, p. 133. 16J oseph S. Hansom, ed., `Official papers relating to Catholic Recusants,' in CRS Miscellanea VII, CRS, 9 (London, 1911), p. 119. "Mush marvels at her humility, but the ability to learn to read in prison is just as marvelous: `I have greatly marveled oftentimes how she, being an unlearned woman, tossed up and down in 211 biographer the priest John Mush tells us, `she most delighted to read the New Testament of Rheims Translation, Kempis Of the following of Christ, Perin's Exercise, and such like spiritual books. ' 18 Father Campion's famous Brag, which he composed shortly after his arrival in England in 1580, was originally entrusted to Thomas Pound who was a prisoner in the Marshalsea.' 9 It was in prison that the controversial manuscript first began to circulate. 20T he priest William Davies and four of his companions in prison spent one half hour after their supper reading devotional books, including the Imitation of Christ. 21 As Hugh Green was ascending the scaffold he gave away his crucifix, agnus dei, and his `book of litanies, ' articles which he must have possessedd uring his confinement. 22 The availability of Catholic texts in prison was so widespread and so scandalous in 1621 that Archbishop Abbot was convinced that the priests in a certain prison were actually printing books there.2 3 It would not have been the first time. Writing to the Speaker of the House of Commons in worldly business, except only in the times of her imprisonment, wherein she learned to read English and written hand, could attain to that humility, to which I know few faithful clerks to have reached nigh. ' `Mr John Mush's Life of Margaret Clitherow' in John Morris, ed., The Troubles of Our Catholic Forefathers (London, 1877), p. 375. 18I bid, p. 393. 19F athers Campion and Pesons resolved to write letters indicating the purpose of their mission in case of their arrest. Campion's was addressed to `the Right Honourable Lords of Her Majesties Privy Council, ' and was later known as his `challenge' or `brag. ' William Charke responded to it in An answer to a seditious pamphlet lately cast abroad by a Jesuit with a discovery of that blaspemous sect (London, 1580), STC 5005. Meredith Harmer replied with The great brag and challenge of M. Champion [sic] a Jesuit, commonly called Edmund Campios (London, 1581), STC 12745. P. Milward, (London, 1581), STC 12745. P. Milward, Religious Controversies of the Elizabethan Age (London, 1978), pp. 54-55. Walsham, `Domure Preachers,' p. 84. 20T he situation in the Marshalsea was relaxed enough to allow this. In fact, immediately upon his arrival in London, Father Persons tells the reader of his memoirs that he `resolved to adventure into the prison of the Marshalsea and to ask for a gentleman prisoner there named Mr Thomas Pound in whose chamber he dined and was singularly comforted with the sight not only of him but of many confessors of Christ that suffered there for his cause and religion. ' J. H. Pollen, ed., `The official lists of Catholic prisoners during the reign of Queen Elizabeth, part II, 1581-1602, ' in CRS Miscellanea II, CRS, 2 (London, 1906), p. 200. 21J . H. Pollen, ed., Memoirs of Missionary Priests (London, 1924), p. 194. 22I bid, p. 423. 212 1604, the printer William Jones complained of his colleague Henry Owens who `had often times been imprisoned for printing popish books, and after a six weeks imprisonment, set at liberty; and being emboldened by his easy imprisonment fell to printing again, and was taken and put into the Clink and there had a press and printed divers popish books till at last he was espied.' 24 The book owners themselves provide only the slightest evidence relating to accessa nd ownership of Catholic books, for obvious reasons. The private and secret activities of the recusants are only made public when the official world of pursuivant, magistrate and courts uncover the shadowy universe of English Catholicism. It is only becauset he Council decided to intervene in the activities of one John Willoughby that we know that he possessed ̀erroneous books, '25 and only becausei t ordered Richard Tremain and George Kekwhich to report on Richard Nicholas Bawdyn and Henry Clark that we learn that the latter pair had smuggled from Spain `Agnus Dei, Popish books and other papistical relics. '26 John Preetyman, customs officer at Dover, drew up a list in 1611 of the illegal books which had made their way to the port there.2 7A n Irishman, Edward Burnell, was arrested for bringing into the realm `sundry books and muniments of superstition contrary to the present state of religion. '28 A `certain Jenkes from Oxford' was also found to 23W hen a search was conducted a large number of books were discovered, but no press. Albert Loomie, Spain and the Jacobean Catholics (London, 1978), p. 144. 24C ited in R. B. McKerrow, Dictionary of printers and booksellers, 1557-1540 (London, 1910) p. 209. 25J . R. Dasent, ed. Acts of the Privy Council of England , 1571-1575, (London, 1894), p. 110 26A PC, 1577-1578, (London, 1895), p. 426. 27M . A. Green, ed., Calendar of State Papers,D omestic Series,1 611-1618 (London, 1858), p. 402. 28A PC, 1577-1578, p. 246. 213 possess ̀certain papistical books, '29 and Arthur Blincow was reported to be a `distributor of lewd and popish books. '30 In the house of a certain Sybury was found `himself, his wife, and two servants. And also his son William, who was committed, with two books, and a picture of our Lady put into one of the same books. '31 Margaret Aldersey was already well known to the ecclesiastical commissioners in Chester - they had earlier examined her for `the concealing of an image' - when in 1562 she ̀ was enjoined that she will not use any Latin Primers hereafter.' They were still dealing with her and her book ten years later when they ordered her `to bring in a Latin Primer which she useth.' 32 A search of the home of John Spede yielded `vii books tending 33 unto papistry. ' Those involved with the distribution of Catholic texts were not entirely silent on the personnel and methods that were employed in the enterprise; those methods, however, often consisted of aliases, ciphers, disguises and deliberate misinformation. It was, of course, in their interest to keep their activities concealed; but it was in the government's interest to uncover and disclose what was essentially, and of necessity, a private and surreptitious enterprise. It was left to officialdom to bring to light the clandestine activities of the recusants, and it is officialdom, understandably, that provides us with the most significant information about patterns of Catholic book ownership. In 1603, Thomas Marrow, questioned for his nonconformity, admitted that he owned the `spiritual doctrine of Lewis of Granada and the office de 29A PC, 1580-1581, p. 34. This was the bookbinder Roland Jenks. It was his servant who informed on the printing operation at Stonor Hall. Pollen, `Father Persons' memoirs, ' p. 17. 30 APC, 1580-1581 p. 235. 31F oley, Records of the English Province of the Society of Jesus, vi, p. 710. 32K . R. Wark, Elizabethan Recusancy in Cheshire, (Manchester, 1971), p. 6. 214 beata Maria. '34 Questioned in the same year, Francis Richardson admitted that he possesseda copy of Vaux's Catechism and, like Marrow, a copy of the `Office Beatae Mariae. '35 Recusant rolls and prison lists record for history the names of those who refused to conform to the established religion, who absented themselves from Sunday services and who otherwise demonstrated an attachment to papistry. The names ̀ Thomas Marrow' and `Francis Richardson' do not, apart from this single reference, appear among them. Unlike George Cotton, George Felton or James Duckett who regularly answered to bishops or magistrates for their non-conformity, neither Marrow nor Richardson, from what we can learn of them, were notorious recusants. They did not harbour seminary priests or Jesuits. They did not assist Catholic boys in escaping the country for the seminaries and noviciates abroad. They were not involved in the distribution of seditious literature, nor did they have warehouses full of books ready to turn loyal subjects into traitorous papists - at least the record of their interrogation does not indicate their involvement in these activities. In fact, apart from non-attendance, a serious offence in itself, their only crime is the possession of two books - devotional books. There is one remarkable element in these rather unremarkable cases: someone evidently believed that the possession of devotional books, even for private use, was an offence worthy of the attention of higher authorities: bishops and magistrates. Why was this? What was it about two ostensibly 33F oley, Records of the English Province of the Society of Jesus, vi, p. 711. 34H ansom, ̀ Official PapersR elating to Catholic Recusants', p. 117. A spiritual doctrine containing a rule to live well, with divers prayers and meditations was translated by Richard Gibbons and printed by Laurence Kellam at Louvain in 1599. 35 He statest hat he ̀ never learned more than to read English,' but knowledge of Latin would not have been necessarya fter 1599 when Richard Verstegan (formerly Rowland, the printer of 215 harmless prayer books that they should create even the mildest stir? It could be argued that the authorities were not at all concerned with the books themselves; they only served to show that the two men before them were part of that Catholic underworld of treason and treachery. In the end, those two books might lead them to even greater prizes, to more books, to more recusants, or even to the small places in large homes which hid the priest when the pursuivants were closing in. 36 But such a theory not only underestimates the role of Catholic literature, it also misinterprets the official position towards the devotional book. Devotional books were not simply evidence of potentially greater dangers and more serious threats, they were in themselves artefacts that could cause significant damage to an always precarious religious situation. Acts of devotion `unambiguously declared an allegiance to Catholicism. ' 37S uch acts, and the books that promoted them, could hardly be tolerated. Devotional books were seen, by everyone involved, as effective and dangerous weapons in the battle for religious allegiance, and it is abundantly clear that traditional devotional books were not regarded as benign or harmless texts. 38 Had they been, they would hardly have been presented as evidence against the two defendants, Marrow and Richardson. Had devotional books been deemed innocent and inoffensive by the establishment, Londoners would never have witnessed the event at St Paul's on 23 or 24 February 1617 when a Smithfield) translated the Officium and included the English along with the Latin texts in the primer. Hansom, `Official Papers Relating to Catholic Recusants,' p. 117. 36T his is the position put forward by Cyndia SusanC legg in her PressC ensorship in Elizabethan England (Cambridge, 1997), p. 80. 37L ucy E. C. Wooding, Rethinking Catholicism in Reformation England (Oxford, 2000), p. 265. 38S ee Chapter 4 for the polemical content of many of these books. 216 considerable number of `breviaries Offices of Our Lady and similar other [books] of devotion' which had been discovered at the home of a Catholic printer were piled high and set ablaze.3 9 Possessiono f a single Catholic book - polemical or devotional - was an offence worthy of the attention of magistrates, bishops and the Council itself. Without such an attitude we would know much less about the ownership and distribution of orthodox texts. The number of editions of both Vaux's Catechism and Granada's A spiritual doctrine tell us that the books were popular, but the statistic does not tell us who read them or what the government thought of them.4 0 In this regard, official, public reaction is more helpful than the private and discreet actions of the Catholic press. It is due to the official disposition towards Catholic texts that we know anything of Robert Segar who had been suspectedo f attending Mass at the home of the Spanish Ambassador. He was in the end committed to prison, but not for being present at Mass - although imprisonment would have been the likely outcome if this illegal action had indeed been proved. Rather, he was incarcerated for what was discovered by the pursuivants at his apprehension, when they found on the person of this `poor decrepit man' all the evidence that was necessaryt o convict him: an old prayer book. 41 The existence of that prayer book, like so many other devotional works that remained circulating in England, suggestst hat government efforts to stem the tide of contraband literature were not altogether effective. But those efforts did occasionally produce more impressive results, when they 39A lbert Loomie, Spain and the JacobeanC atholics (London, 1978), p. 72. 40G ibbon's translation was printed five times, with a variety of titles. Vaux's A catechism, or a Christian doctrine necessaryf or children and ignorant people was printed nine times between 1568 - 1620. For Gibbons' translation see STC 16922,16922a., 16922a3. ,16922a. 7,16922a. 9. For Vaux, see STC 24625.5-24627a.4 . 217 yielded not a book or two confiscated from idealistic youths or a poor decrepit man, but when information, intelligence, serendipity and patience led the pursuivants to the very source of treason and treachery: the press itself. Printing was not an activity easily concealed, nor could it be carried out without some degree of contact with the outside world. Regularly, the Catholic printer or his factor would have to emerge from the shadows to procure those things necessary for the trade - at least paper and ink - exposing himself as he did so to whispers and rumours, any of which might eventually reach the ears of those who could make a quick end of press and printer alike. Such good fortune - the confiscation of a Catholic press - if we are to believe those who were responsible for the coups, was not an unusual occurrence. Writing to Secretary Cecil on 14 April 1582 Recorder Fleetwood was pleased to report that `it fell out that in the first week of Lent that there was a book cast abroad, in commending of Campion and of his fellows, and of their death. I pursued the matter so near that I found the press, the letters, the figures, and a number of the books. '42 The Franciscan Benet of Canfield tells the reader of his Rule of Perfection that earlier attempts to print the books were foiled when `it was both times taken. '43 The presseso f William Carter and James Duckett, both of whom were executed for printing seditious works, would not have been left unmolested when the printers were apprehended.4 4 On 1 August 41P ollen, Memoirs of Missionary Priests, p. 498. 42Pollen, Unpublished Documents Relating to the English Martyrs, p. 27. The book, Alfield's A true report of the death and martyrdom of M. Campion Jesuit and Priest, &. M. Sherwin, & M. Bryan [sic] priests (STC 4537), was printed secretly in London by Richard Rowland (later Verstegan). In February, the seminary priest Edward Osborn was found with six copies of the same `traitorous books of Campion's, Sherwin's and Bryan's martyrdom as they call it. ' Ibid. Pollen, Unpublished Documents Relating to the English Martyrs, p. 27. 43W illiam Fitch, The rule of perfection (Rouen, 1609). STC 10928, sig, W. 44C arter was put to death for printing Gregory Martin's A treatise of schism and Duckett for producing Robert Southwell's An humble supplication to her majesty. Bishop Aylmer of 218 1597 the Court of the Company of Stationers ordered that `the counterfeit table for a printing press taken in the White Friars... found to be Wm Wrenche's shall be destroyed and made unserviceable for printing according to the decrees of the Starchamber for offending against those decrees in printing papistical books. '45 In July 1601 Sir Walter Chetwind arrested the Catholic printer Henry Owen and confiscated his press.4 6 The press of John Danter was taken after he printed a Jesus Psalter in 1596.47 John Gee reports that `There was a printing-house suppressed about some three years since [c. 1621] in Lancashire, where all Brerely his works with many other Popish pamphlets were printed. '48 The operation at Stoner Hall was betrayed by `the bookseller's servant' and `all that it contained was seized.' 49 As with the confiscation of books, though, the discovery of a printing operation sent a mixed message:t he government was serious about enforcing its oft-repeated prohibitions; it simply was not very good at it. The press itself was, of course, the ultimate prize, but locating stores of books and centres of distribution was nearly as rewarding. The Venetian Ambassador claimed to be unaware that his residence in London had become a veritable warehouse of contraband Catholic literature. After a seditious book London had discovered Carter's press. He wrote to SecretaryC ecil in December 1579 ̀ I have found out a press of printing with one Carter a very lewd fellow, who hath been divers times in prison for printing of lewd pamphlets.' DNB, vol. III, pp. 1116-1117. ' W. W. Greg and E. Boswell, eds., Records of the Court of the Stationers' Company, 1576- 1602 (London, 1930), p. 58. 46A PC, 1601-1604, p. 85. 47T essa Watt, Cheap Print and Popular Piety, 1550-1640 (Cambridge, 1991), p. 51. 48J ohn Gee, The foot out of the snare (London, 1624), STC 11704, sig. S2'. See Arthur J. Hawkes `The Birchley Hall secret press, ' The Library, 7 (1926) for a discussion of this press. 49 Pollen, `Father Persons' memoirs, ' p. 17. 219 was discovered there, a complete search of the residence had uncovered bales of devotional books awaiting distribution. 50 An anonymous source tells of a Vintner in London a very rich man who hath keeped these two years or above so many priests' books (in a wine cave which is situated under one of the chief churches in London) as did load a cart: that these books do belong to one Archpapist of this kingdom, who (as it is like) repairs there at all times alone or accompanied, without suspicion, which is a great boldness in the vintner, to hoard such books, in such a place but far greater in him or the owner, to make use of them, or to have their conventions or massesu nder the church, which by all likelihood may be supposed.5 ' The most industrious and, according to his own reports at least, successful press-hunter was William Udall, sometime government spy who had made a career - but not a living, if he is to be believed - confiscating Catholic books arriving in English ports and hunting Catholic printers through a network of informants and pursuivants: `Never more seditious books ready to come abroad than now are in hand as well in England as beyond the seas' he warned an already paranoid government.5 2 Udall was, in his own day, not the most reliable of informants; he had the tedious habit of exaggerating his efforts and successesi n order to win favour and reward from his patrons.5 3 Rarely does he mention his talent at discovering seditious material without also remarking that he had not been compensated for his troubles, nor without lamenting his financial situation: `Shall I not be able to live by my own 50P . R. Harris, `The reports of William Udall, informer 1605-1612, ' RH, 8 (1965), p. 245. A list was prepared by Sir Julius Caesar which includes the notations `the Rosary of the Virgin Mary. Many. '; St Marie's Psalter. Many'; `The Rule of Perfection. Some. '; `The Spiritual Conflict. Some. ' Out of twenty-five titles confiscated, thirteen were works of devotion. 51W. W. Greg, ed., A Companion to Arber : being a calendar of documents in Edward Arber's `Transcript of the registers of the Company of Stationers of London, 1554-1640', with text and calendar of supplementary documents (Oxford, 1967), p. 177 and M. A. Green, ed., Calendar of State Piers, Domestic Series, 1619-1623 (London, 1858), p. 208. 220 endeavours? Shall I work for the bishops' credits and commodities, spend my time and money in the King's service and have my wife and children cast away (as once they have been heretofore) without all regard and recompense? What poor subject spending his poor wife's portion hath upon his own cost and travail within these four years delivered five several presses for printing, caused about ten-thousand seditious books to be intercepted?' 54 Udall may have been, as the statesman Sir Geoffrey Fenton described him, `a person hateful to the better sort and not trusted with the worser, ' but he is not entirely useless for our purposes.5 5 From him we get, if not a precise picture of the English Catholic book trade, at least a senseo f the activity of what was a flourishing industry. The recipients of his letters and pleas may not have been able to tell when Udall was readjusting the facts to better his chances for a hefty reward; he was good at discovering presses,b ut he was also talented at inventing them. Writing to the Earl of Salisbury 28 June 1606 he boasted, ̀ I have caused all the prints that in England were offensive to be discovered. ' 56A nd three months later he was pleased to announce ̀ The particulars can prove... that for these ii years no one man hath equalled my performances. I have only [alone] intercepted four several pressesf or printing. No books at all have been taken but what hath been by my endeavours...T here is now, my good Lord, another print [press] to be taken in Lancashire. It will trouble if it be not prevented.' On 22 November 1607 he wrote to the earl once again that `I have within these three years discovered and caused to be 52H arris, `The reports of William Udall, ' p. 226. 53I bid, p. 201. 54I bid, p. 235. ss Leona Rostenburg, The minority press and the English crown: a Study in repression 1558- 1625 (Nieuwkoop, 1971). p. 79. 221 taken five several pressesf or printing... '57 In all, Udall claims to have single- handedly discovered eight or nine secret presses in London during a period in which only three or four were known to have existed. 58 Self-serving, obsequious, tending towards exaggeration and constantly complaining, Udall was nonetheless effective. He did discover pressesa nd he controlled a network of spies and pursuivants that allowed him to know with some accuracy the consignments of books about to arrive in England, as well as the names of those responsible for shipping them. He was aware that the publisher John Heigham sent his wife `under the habit of a Dutch woman' to disperse Catholic books that had been sent over earlier from the Netherlands. 59 He knew the books which Heigham was shipping from Dunkirk and Calais in November 1608, including `The lives and deaths of English, Irish, and Scottish saints and martyrs, amongst which some of those which were executed for the Powder Treason are included. '60 In 1609 he was cognisant of the progress of the `long awaited Bible from Douai, ' which did in fact appear the following year.6 1I n the same year he was eager to report that he had received word that there were `divers packs of books to be delivered in and about Montague House. '62 Once he claimed to have confiscated eight-hundred copies of `one most vile book' and another time that he had already `caused at sea four- thousand books to be taken, and divers raw hides. ' 63O f those books which 56H arris, `The reports of William Udall, ' p. 217. s' Ibid, p. 227. 58I bid, p. 201. He also claimed that he was responsible for the capture of William Wrench's press at Easter 1610. 59I bid, p. 262. 60T his is John Wilson's English Martyrology. Harris, `The reports of William Udall, ' p. 238. 61I bid, p. 228. 62I bid, p. 256. 63I bid, p. 233. 222 were departing from the continent he boasted to the Earl of Salisbury `If your Honour please I am able to deliver a means to intercept all that shall be sent.' 64 Recusant rolls, prison lists, court records and correspondences from informers like Udall shed some light on the availability of Catholic texts. In addition to official records and reports of recusant behaviour, the wider Protestant establishment also gives us some insight into the circulation of Catholic literature in England. The best example of this type of information is certainly the book published in 1624 by John Gee with the title The foot out of the snare: with a detection of sund late practices and impostures of the . priests and Jesuits in England. Whereunto is added a catalogue of Popish books lately dispersed in our Kingdom. The printers, binders, sellers, and dispersers of all such books. Romish priests and Jesuits resident about London. Popish physicians practising about London. (Figure 5.1) By 1624 anti-Catholic sentiment in England and interest in the plots and intrigues of the Jesuits, in their subtle attempts to subvert the nation and pave the way for Papal and Spanish troops, had to no degree waned. If anything anti- Catholicism was on the rise, fuelled as it was by an endless stream of books and pamphlets which reminded the reader that the Jesuit threat was as great as ever. John Gee was certainly able to capture this mood and made the most of it by producing an expose which was in its day a best-seller. Four editions of The foot out of the snare were produced in 1624. Naming the Jesuits, seminary priests and their associatesw ho freely strolled the streets of London was not meant to put the reading public at ease, as if knowledge of the activities and whereabouts of these papists made them less of a threat. On the 64I bid, p. 213. ___ c WITH A DETECTION OF S NDIa nd Y oaurLesA TE pmatces Irn of the 'Prrefs andJ eJuftisn England. Whereunto is added a: Catalogue of Euchb ooý vr. as xn this ,A uthorsk nomledge haue been,v ented within t% o Beres1 a1 paff in London, by the Prse s and their Agýnrs By IoHNGuz, Mailer of Arts, of Exsn-Cg1lcdgc in OXFo': R D. AT L0ND0N, Printed by H. L. for RcberLMIIournta, nda re to bee `old at his fhop at the great South doore of Pauls, 624. Figure 5.1 The ProtestantJ ohn Gee lists the Catholic books that were readily available in London in 1624. 223 contrary, the point of the book was to raise an alarm and display to the reader not only the number and organisation of the enemy in their midst, but the liberty of movement which they enjoyed, to no other end it was assumed, than the overthrow of the Gospel and the state. The foot out of the snare was a call- to-arms to a nation that had grown complacent, as Gee saw it, towards the advancement of popery: Again, understand you not, how laborious and vigilant our adversaries now are, forbearing not time, sparing no pains to captivate and destroy. Witness the swarms of their books which you may hear humming up and down in every corner both of city and country.. .1 verily believe they have vented more of their pamphlets within this twelve-month, than they did in many years before. They have printing pressesa nd booksellers almost in every corner.6 5 Gone were the days when the papists were forced to hide and perform their superstitious rites in dark corners and always with some element of fear, when priests disguised themselves as sea captains or merchants in order to avoid being detected by a zealous corps of priest-hunters, and when the Gatehouse, Tower, Clink, Poultry and Marshalsea were full of stubborn papists. Times had changed. `How proudly, ' charged Bishop Joseph Hall `the Tridentine faith hath advanced her crest, and had dared to fly fiercely in the very face of the Gospel: the Romish forces put themselves openly into array and have dared to sound not an alarum only, but... a victory. '66 The Jesuits were portrayed as mysterious and elusive, slippery and seductive, and worst of all Spanish. They were predatory figures who lured unsuspecting 65G ee, The foot out of the snare, sig, D4`-" 66J oseph Hall, The Works of JosephH all (London, 1634), STC 12640, p. 515. 224 Catholics into their confidence, only to turn their sins and consciences against them. They thrived on secrecy and deception, but according to Gee they were easy enough to spot: If about Bloomsbury or Holborn thou meet a good smug fellow in a gold-laced suit, a cloak lined through with velvet, one that bath a good store of coin in his purse, rings on his fingers, a watch in his pocket which he will value at above twenty pounds, a very broad-laced band, a stiletto by his side, a man at his heels, willing (upon small acquaintance) to intrude into thy company, and still desiring further to insinuate with thee; then take heed of a Jesuit, of the prouder sort of priests. This man hath vowed poverty: Fear not to trust him with thy wife: he bath vowed also chastity. 67 Scores of pamphlets and books declared that they had uncovered the deceit and peeled away the thin veneer of religion to disclose the real, political aspirations of the Jesuits. What the public knew of the Society was gathered from the royal proclamations which expelled them repeatedly from the realm, and from the vast assortment of invective which assertedt hat wealthy widows and loose women were their only real concern.6 8 The Jesuits' downfall informed the reader that they were worse than the Turk: `They are blasphemous wretches, an impious brood, progenie of vipers, to use our Saviour's words against them, the offals of the old Scribes and Pharisees.' 69 A 67G ee, The foot out of the snare, sig. H I'-H2'. 68A royal proclamation of 10 January 1581 expelled Jesuits from the kingdom as traitors who `under a holy name deceive ... and abuse the simpler sort-with intent not only to corrupt and pervert [the queen's] good and loving subjects in matter of conscience and religion but also drawn from the acknowledgement of their natural duties unto her highness. ' STC 8127 and Hughes and Larkin, Tudor Royal Proclamations, p. 482. James I complained at the beginning of his reign that the Jesuits were `using their functions and professions with greater liberty than heretofore they durst done, partly upon a vain confidence of some innovation in matters of religion to be done by us, which we never intended, nor gave any man cause to expect. ' He likewise expelled them `to keep our subjects from being infected with superstitious opinions in matter [sic] of religion. ' STC 8343, fol. 2. 69T homas James, The Jesuits' downfall, threatened against them by the secular priests (London, 1612), STC 14459, sig. A". 225 pamphlet which appeared in 1609 under the title Aphorismes both reflected and helped to form public sentiment when it called them `a great fellowship and society in all manner of wickedness, and especially of whoredomes, treasons, and magical arts.' 70 The anonymous author of A discovery of the secret and most subtle practices of the Jesuits asks his reader to consider How many women think you that these wretches have murdered...? How many little infants have they slain? How many young children of very rich houses have they stolen away? For my part I hold it most certain: how often have we poor novices heard the lamentations and shrieks of little infants, their sighs and cries, which.. do . move us to pity as our hair stood right up. The most simple thought they were souls of the departed, and for my part I knew they were of those that were newly born, or that were newly slain. 71 It was to this genre of anti-Catholic and specifically anti-Jesuit literature that The foot out of the snare belonged, emerging after a period of perhaps unparalleled toleration of English Catholics as the Crown negotiated with Catholic Spain for a marriage between the Prince of Wales and the Infanta. The text itself provides us with an excellent example of seventeenth century anti-Catholicism, but it is the catalogues of books, printers and booksellers, that interest us and which would have provided the contemporary reader with enough evidence of the ever-increasing Catholic menace. What the catalogues told the seventeenth century reader was that Catholicism was on the loose, like a foot out of a snare. What the catalogues tell us is that by 1623- 1624 access to Catholic devotional books was much easier and more widespread than one might naturally assume. The lists of books and 70A non., Aphorisms. Or certain selected points of the doctrine of the Jesuits (London, 1609), STC 14525, sig. E4'. 226 booksellers that Gee identifies reflect an increase of toleration, but also point to an inconsistent policy of enforcement that makes it both difficult and dangerous to generalise about official `policies' towards Catholic books in the 1620s. When a stash of Catholic books had been discovered in a prison and confiscated in 1621, the Spanish ambassadorw as actually able to convince James Ito have the books returned `without the loss of a single line. '72 Recall that it was only four years earlier that the skies around St Paul's were brightened by the blaze fuelled by Catholic prayer-books. `A catalogue or note of all such English books (to the knowledge of which I could come) as have been printed, reprinted, or dispersed by the priests and their agents in this kingdom within these two years past, or thereabouts.' 73T he catalogue of books which Gee appends to The foot out of the snare consists of both devotional and polemical works. According to the title it is a list of works which have appeared in England since 1622 `or thereabouts.' It is not, therefore, a list of all the Catholic books that were in circulation and of which Gee was aware.7 4W ith the exception of the entry Missale parvum pro sacerdotibus all the books he lists are in the vernacular. 75 Gee was obviously interested in exposing those books which were created and intended solely for deceiving his country-men and women. The most fascinating dimension of the catalogue is not the number of books that it lists - although with 156 titles this is itself impressive - but its accuracy. Gee was not " Anon., A discovery of the most secret and subtle practices of the Jesuits (London, 1610), STC 14528, sig. B1"72 Albert Loomie, Spain and the Jacobean Catholics (London, 1978), p. 144. 73Gee,T he foot out of the snare, sig. R4r. 74T he fourth edition contains several titles not included in the first. 227 deceived by the continental imprints for Jesus Maria Joseph and The love of the soul but was aware that they had both been printed in London. 76H e knew too that James Anderton's (alias John Brerely) The Reformed Protestant was printed at a secret press in Lancashire `where all Brerely his works, with many other Popish pamphlets, were printed. ' 77 Gee may have acquired much of his knowledge of the underground world of Catholic book distribution during the short period when, although probably not a Catholic, he was inclined towards the religion, a period, he says, which lasted about a year.7 8 It was probably 1623 (the year before he published The foot out of the snare) since he was present at the ill-fated sermon preached by the Jesuit Robert Drury at Blackfriars on 26 October 1623.79I t is therefore not surprising that he should come into contact with some orthodox books during his short time as a Catholic sympathiser, and even meet those who were responsible for putting the books into Catholic 75T he Missale parvum pro sacerdotibus in Anglia itinerantibus was printed by the English College Press, St Omer in 1623. The missal, as its title indicates, was produced specifically for priests on the English mission. See ARCR I, 336.1. 76T homas Doughty, Jesu, Maria, Joseph. The practice of the presence of God, and how to seek him who is the peace, ease, of man (England, secret press, 1623), STC 7072.7 and Gregory Martin, The love of the soul made by G. M. (England, secret press, c. 1597), STC 17504. " Gee, The foot out of the snare sig. S2". A. F. Allison, `Who was John Brerely? The , identity of a seventeenth-century controversialist, ' RH, 16 (1982), p. 33. 78 ̀For the spaceo f about a year,' he says. Gee, The foot out of the snare, sig. 03". 79T he Catholic sermon at `Blackfriars, ' a building attached to the residence of the French Ambassador, was well attended, having attracted an audience of about 300. The sermon was held on the third floor, the second floor holding a small chapel were secret masses were said. As a result of the crowd the floor gave way and a large number, about 95, fell to their deaths. The tragedy prompted a number of polemical works, like the Catholic John Floyd's A word of comfort or a discourse concerning the accident of the fall of a room in the Black-Friars (St Omer, 1623), STC 11118. But the majority of the works were produced by Protestants who saw the catastrophe as divine retribution: Something written by occasion of that fateful accident in the Black-Friars (London, 1623) STC 3101; The fateful vesper, a true relation of that lamentable accident at the Black-Friars. With the names of such persons as perished (London, 1623), STC 6015; The doleful evensong, or a narration of the downfall of the floor in the Back-Friars (London, 1623), STC 11923; The dismal day, or a deplorable elegic on the death of almost an hundred persons, slain by the fall of a house in the Back-Friars (London, 1623) STC 20961.5. The date of the incident did not go unnoticed; 26 October, old style, was 5 November according to the new style. 228 hands. He recalls one such occasion in The foot out of the snare when he visited a `notorious Jesuit' who was `himself a great merchant for the commodity of these Popish pamphlets: and, as I have heard some of his brethren say, he hath thriven well thereby, especially while he fished in untroubled waters. Myself have seen greater stores in quires at his chamber, than I ever beheld in any stationers ware-house about Paul's; he having two or three large rooms filled up with heaps of this kind to the very top. ' 80 Gee's information was not always accurate, however, nor is the catalogue entirely free from error. The first entry in the catalogue is the `The Doway Bibles [sic], revised by Doctor Worthington' which Gee claims was `reprinted here in London. ' He is correct in his comment regarding Thomas Worthington's involvement in the production of the two volumes, but not in the place of their printing. 8' He lists as well a copy of the New Testament `in English lately printed in decimo sexto: sold for twelve shillings, which might be well afforded for four. ' 82T hree editions of the Rheims New Testament were produced before Gee wrote his The foot out of the snare in 1624. The first two, published in 1582 and 1600, were in quarto, the third printed in 1621 was in duodecimo: no 16° edition has been identified. 83 Gee registers the Catholic books in no particular order, mixing devotional works with controversial titles. It does appear, however, that he 80G ee, The foot out of the snare, sig. S4". 8'The holy Bible faithfully translated into English, out of the authentical Latin. diligently conferred with the Hebrew, Greek, and other editions in divers languages. With arguments of the books, and chapters: annotations, tables: and other helps... (STC 2207) was printed in 1609 by Laurence Kellem in Douai. The New Testament had been issued earlier, in 1582, from Rheims. Gregory Martin was chiefly responsible for the translation; Worthington was part of a team of editors which also included William Allen, Richard Bistrow, and William Rainolds. 82G ee, The foot out of the snare, sig. R4`. Walsham, ̀ Domure preachers', p. 85. 83T he New Testament of JesusC hrist, translated faithfully into English (Rheims, 1582), STC 2884,40. 229 lists first the books about which he has the most information, perhaps the ones that he has seenh imself. The titles are more exact and there are fewer ghosts at the beginning of the catalogue; he even mentions the exorbitant prices of the earlier works and is more likely to add a few words of commentary after the title, something he rarely does as he approaches the end of his catalogue. For example he records `Saint Augustine's Confessions, translated by Tob. Matthew, and sold for sixteen shillings, being but a little book in octavo, and might be afforded for two shillings six-pence' 84a nd The loud-lying pamphlet, termed, The Bishop of London's Legacy, written by Muslet a priest, and reprinted, with a preface of a new disguise; the book containing about 16 sheets: they squeezed from some Romish buyers, six or seven shillings a piece. A dear price for a dirty lie: yet I wish they that have any belief in it, might pay dearer for it. 85 When he reaches the seventeenth entry, Gee either tires of including the prices of the books or he simply does not know them: `The new religion, no religion written by one Floud a priest, now in London, sold at a high rate, and so are all the rest following. '86 Unlike the informer William Udall who found it necessaryt o conjure up printing presses in order to strengthen his case, Gee probably invented nothing. There is the possibility that he mentions a book which existed only in rumour or in speculation, but it is not prudent to assumet hat Gee intentionally fabricated titles to make the Catholic threat appear more menacing. The real 84TobieM atthew, The confessionso f the incomparable doctor S. Augustine (St Omer, 1620), STC 910. 85G ee, The foot out of the snare, sig, S1r. 86T his is a ghost. 230 titles - books that did exist - were more than enough proof to make his case for an ever-advancing Catholic presence in London. We are unable to identify A treatise of true zeal, The holy triumph, The shedding of tears, Sion's Songs, or the melody of the Blessed, Every Saint's rpa yer, The Catholic's Crown or a book which he calls The daily practice, all of which appear from their titles to be devotional in nature. But rather than impugning the reliability of Gee's catalogue, these ̀ ghosts' remind us that the number of devotional titles available to the London Catholic in the first quarter of the seventeenth century was certainly larger than what is available to the modern bibliographer. Gee was not only aware of a significant number of Catholic books that were circulating in London, he was also aware of their origins and lists in another catalogue, ̀ The names of such as disperse, print, bind or sell Popish books about London. '87 Twenty-two names are listed in the register, a remarkable number if Gee is as accurate in this list as he is in the Catalogue of books. Like the earlier catalogue, there are entries in this list which appear only here, ghosts, as it were, of Catholic booksellers. There may indeed have been a bookseller called `Spanish John' `commonly known as the Devil's factor, a transporter of gentlewomen beyond the seast o become nuns' or a bookseller whom Gee refers to only as ̀ May in Shoo Lane. ' 88F or these and for `Jeremy Jackson near Moore-fields' or `Mother Truck, dwelling in Southwark, ' however, we only have the testimony provided in The foot out of " Gee, The foot out of the snare,s ig. T I'. 88I bid. 231 the snare.8 9 For the others however, there do exist at least shreds of external evidence which point not only to their existence but to their. participation in the distribution of Catholic literature. Three of those mentioned by Gee - `Ferdinando Ely in Little Britain, ' `William Man, Master Fisher's man' and `Baily in Holborn' - were also included in a list of 1628 of those second-hand booksellers who were required to place a copy of their inventories with the Archbishop of Canterbury, presumably becauseo f suspicion of dealing in popish books.9 0 Another entry, William Wrench, was well-known as a dealer in forbidden literature. 91H e was, in fact, condemned to death for the activity, but later pardoned by the Bishop of London. 92 Peter Bullock did not fare as well. His execution for selling popish books was carried out on 19 April 1601, but his widow continued the illicit activity and is included in his catalogue as `Mistress Bullock in Fetter-Lane. '93 Her neighbour `Mistress Fowler in Fetter- Lane' was also well connected with the industry of Catholic book production. She was probably the daughter-in-law of the industrious Catholic publisher/printer John Fowler who operated out of Antwerp and Louvain from 1565 - 1576.94T he names Henry Oven [Owen] and Ann Douse appear in a memorandum by the Chancellor of the Exchequer Sir Julius Caesar, the latter with the notation `A widow in High Holborn over against the turning stile into 89I bid. 90S ee McKerrow, Dictionary of printers and booksellers, 1557-1540 (London, 1910), pp. 99, 104 -105 for Ely and Man and H. R. Plomer A Dictionary of the Booksellers and Printers... 1641-1667 (London, 1907), p. 11 for Baily. 91S ee above. In March 1604/5 he was indicted for recusancy (CRS, 34, p. 5). It was his press that was confiscated at White Friars. The industrious Catholic publisher John Heigham may have been apprenticed to Wrench. See A. F. Allison, `John Heigham of S. Omer (c. 1568- 1632), ' RH, 4 (1957), p. 228. 92T . Harmsen, John Gee's `Foot out of the Snare' (1624) (Nijmegen: 1992), p. 242. 93M cKerrow, Dictionary of printers and booksellers, 1557-1540, p. 55. 94W illiam Udall reported that the Fowlers were actually operating a press themselves.H arris, `The reports of William Udall, ' pp. 218 and 220, n. 10 . 232 Lincoln Inn Fields. She selleth Popish books. '95 Gee lists her as ̀ Widow Douse, a famous dealer.' 96 Gee also records `Peter Smith and his son. They both print and sell popish books and are very audacious, pernicious fellows. '97 Gee was correct, at least about their activities; a press belonging to Peter Smith had been seized in 1623.98 The nineteenth entry in Gee's catalogue lists a `Michael Franklin. ' There was indeed a printer by that name working in London from 1617-1624. If this was the same Michael Franklyn who was indicted for recusancy in 1613, he may well have been printing Catholic texts. 99 Others mentioned by Gee are not known to us - apart from his disclosure - as dealers in popish books, but they were certainly booksellers. We have no external evidence to support Gee's claim that `Bulmer in Holborn, ' who maintained his bookshop near the Tennis Court in the Middle Row in Holborn was distributing contraband literature, but we have no reason to believe that he was not. ' 00 There was a Thomas Gubbins who sold books in London from 1587 - 1629 at the sign of the Griffin on Pater Noster Row, and this may be the Gubbins to whom Gee refers. '°' There is nothing, however, apart from Gee's reference, which associatest his bookseller with recusant activity or Catholic sympathies. What can we conclude from the information which John Gee provided in his text of 1624? First we know that he was a keen observer of the distribution and the availability of Catholic texts which circulated in London. 95I bid, p. 237. 96G ee, The foot out of the snare, sig, T I'. 97I bid. 98M cKerrow, Dictionary of printers and booksellers, 1557-1540,p p. 248-249. 99I bid, p. 109; CRS, 34, p. 81. '00I bid, p. 55, and STC vol. 3, p. 32. 101Ib id, p. 119 and STC vol. 3, pp. 73-74. 233 Second, we know that his observations and his record of them in The foot out of the snare are remarkably accurate, if not always in the precise details of production and distribution, at least in terms of the existence both of Catholic books and their distributors. Third, Gee - and we must assume his contemporaries as well - regarded books of Catholic devotion as a dangerous threat to the religious stability of England, and thus included them in a catalogue to demonstratej ust how real and how imminent that threat had become. And finally, we can conclude from Gee's evidence that books were playing a significant part in the maintenance of the old faith in England, perhaps even to a degree greater than could have been imagined in those early days of forbidden printing. In 1624 a nervous John Gee reported with horror and alarm the `drowsiness of many luke-warm Protestants' who allowed such a situation to develop, who failed to halt the invasion of papist lies and `popish trash' which threatened to seducet he weak of faith. 102B ut by 1624 that invasion had been taking place for decades,e ver since bundles of Laurence Vaux's Catechism were sent from Louvain in 1568, and since the Londoner William Carter secretly reprinted an English edition of the Imitation of Christ in 1575. By 1624 the movement to provide Catholics with devotional literature to sustain them in their faith had gathered experience and momentum. Pamphleteers and informers were remarkably accurate observers of the Catholic book world. They realized that they faced a double threat, from books imported from Catholic printing centres, but also from the Catholic presses operating in England. A minority of the devotional books produced 102G ee, The foot out of the snare, sig. B 1'. 234 between 1560-1640 were issued from domestic secret presses.' 03 But a minority in this regard is not an unimpressive figure: nearly ninety devotional books were printed at underground presses in England between 1575-1640. That the vast majority of Catholic books issued from presses from across the Channel is predictable: there existed on the continent a printing industry which, though regulated, was not prohibited from printing Catholic books. Commercial printers were already at hand, motivated by profit or piety or both, and more than willing to produce texts intended for English Catholics. Also located on the Continent were talented, educated clerics - as well as laymen - who had fled persecution at home and who were free to employ their talents for the promotion of the Catholic cause. Printing Catholic texts abroad was not without its difficulties, but the relative facility of printing orthodox texts in the Netherlands or France highlights by contrast the adversities which confronted the domestic Catholic printer who operated a secret press.' 04 It should be understood that the term `secret press' used here covers two type of operations: first, the hidden, clandestine press which was set up specifically for the purpose of printing forbidden Catholic texts and second, the established, commercial press which operated openly but which surreptitiously produced the prohibited literature. The former is represented 103S ee Appendix. 104T here are several examples of domestic printers who left behind the hardships they encountered in England and continued to print on the Continent. John Lyon, who had at one time collaborated with William Carter, printed in Louvain after 1578. Richard Rowland who once printed in Smithfield changed his name to Verstegan when he emigrated to Paris. Father Persons himself set up a press in Rouen when he left England in 1582, shortly after Fr Campion's execution. But printing abroad was not without its own difficulties, especially in publishing centres embroiled in what is now known as the Thirty Years War. Father John Gerard had asked Francis Slingsby to have a book printed at S. Omer, but reported that `The book is yet kept there safely, & cannot go forward during these wars between France & Flanders which hath made both paper and workmen and all things double rate, and so the book 235 by the makeshift pressese stablished by the Jesuits after 1580, and earlier by those like the Londoner William Carter, who employed their resources and skills in the promotion of their religion. William Carter, son of Robert Carter the draper, had been apprenticed to John Cawood, the Queen's printer, for ten years.' °5 An established printer, he was also a well-known recusant. On 30 December 1579, John Aylmer, the bishop of London wrote to Cecil with the news that `I have found out a press of printing with one Carter, a very lewd fellow who hath been divers times in prison for printing of lewd pamphlets. ' 106 He was in prison - the Poultry - for his religion at least as early as 1578 and certainly for printing seditious books. 107T wo year later we find `William Carter, stationer' transferred Gatehouse at Westminster 1086 f or not conforming himself in matters of religion. ' 109H e was moved to the Tower in 1582. In a document listing those `Prisoners committed to the Tower since the beginning of the month of June 1582 for matters of religion' we find one `William Carter Bookbinder de Civitate London. ' 110 He also appears in another list of prisoners `which are to pay their own diet, &c. ' 111It appearst hat Carter specialised in devotional works, and these would have no doubt have been counted among the `lewd must rest until God send better times. ' A. F. Allison, `Franciscan Books in English, 1559- 1640, ' RH, 3 (1955), p. 61. 105'W illiam Carter the son of Robert Carter of London draper hath put himself apprentice unto John Cawood citizen and stationer of London from the feast of the purification of the blessed lady saint Mary Anno 1562 [1563 n. s.] ten years. ' E. Arber, A transcript of the registers of the Company of Stationers of London (London, 1875), vol. 1, p. 196. 106J ohn Strype, Annals of the Reformation (Oxford, 1824), vol. ii, fo. 588. 107T he entry in a list of prisoners held in the Poultry reads `Wm Carter committed the xxiiith of Septemb 1578 brought in by Norris and was dd. by warrant from Mr Bedill the 28 of October 1578. ' R. H. Pollen, ed., `The official lists of prisoners for religion during the reign of Queen Elizabeth, ' in CRS Miscellanea I, CRS, 1 (London, 1905), p. 65. 108Ib id, p. 60. 109A PC, 158-1581, p. 40. 236 pamphlets' which were found at his home on Tower Hill. ' 12B ut it was one of the few polemical works which Carter printed which would be the cause of his undoing. The offending text was A treatise of schism. Showing that all Catholics ought in any wise to abstain altogether from heretical conventicles, to wit, their prayers, sermons, &c. 113G regory Martin, the individual chiefly responsible for the translation of the Rheims New Testament in 1582, was a prolific polemicist and with this work he entered the early debate regarding attendance at services in the established church. 14 The central aim of the book was to convince Catholics that they ought not to participate in the services of heretics. The example that Martin used was an unfortunate one and cost the printer, William Carter his life. `Judith followeth, whose godly and constant 110J . H. Pollen, ed., `The official lists of Catholic prisoners during the reign of Queen Elizabeth, part II, 1581-1602, ' p. 228. 11'I bid, p. 229. 112A RCR II attributes the following works to Carter when he was, perhaps, collaborating with John Lyon before the latter left England to print on the Continent in 1579: Jean Albin de Valsergues' A notable discourse, plainly and truly discussing, who are right ministers of the Catholic church: written against Calvin and his disciples (1575), STC 274.; The following of Christ... Whereunto also is added the Golden Epistle of St Bernard (c. 1575), STC 23967. A secret reprint of the 1556 translation by Richard Whitford. Certain sweet prayers of the glorious name of Jesu, commonly called Jesus Matins, with the hours thereto belonging... ' (c. 1575-1578), STC 23443.5, which is an anonymous translation of a work by Henry Suso; John Mitchell's A brief directory, and plain way how to say the Rosary of our blessed lady: with meditations for such as are not exercised therein (c. 1576), STC 17136; Certain devout meditations very necessary for Christian men devoutly to meditate upon morning and evening, everyday in the week (1576), STC 17775; The Golden garden of Gethsemani furnished with wholesome fruits of meditation and prayer: upon the blessed passion of Christ our redeemer (1576), STC 16645.3; A short and absolute order of confession (c. 1577) STC 18843; The following texts were printed by William Carter alone, after John Lyon's departure to the continent in 1578: A spiritual consolation, written by John Fisher... to his sister Elizabeth (c. 1578), STC 10899; A treatise of schism. Showing that all Catholics ought in any wise to abstain altogether from heretical conventical, to wit their prayers, sermons, &. (1578), STC 17508; Certain necessary principals of religion, which may be entitled A catechism containing all parts of the Christian and Catholic faith (1578-1579) STC 4568.5; The exercise of a Christian life (1579), STC 16641.5; Instructions and advertisements how to meditate the mysteries of the rosary of the most holy virgin (1579) STC 16646; Certain devout godly petitions commonly called the Jesus psalter (1579) STC 14563.7; The godly garden of Gethsemani, furnished with wholesome fruits of meditation and prayer: upon the blessed passion of Christ our redeemer (1579) STC 16645.5. 113G regory Martin, A treatise of schism. Showing that all Catholics ought in any wise to abstain altogether from heretical conventicles, to wit, their prayers, sermons, &c (England, secret press, 1578), STC 17508. 237 wisdom if our Catholic gentlewomen would follow, they might destroy Holofernes, the master heretic, and amass all his retinue, and never defile their religion by communicating with them in any small point. ' 115J udith's refusal to eat with the Assyrians was held up to Catholic women in England as example of feminine resolve and constancy.1 16 It was not, however, for her recusancy that the biblical heroine was best remembered, but for her murder of Holofernes, and although the text was not intended to incite anyone to kill the Queen, it was nonetheless interpreted in this way by the government. 117T he printer was executed on 11 January 1584. It was an event of sufficient import and interest to warrant an entry in the Annals of the antiquarian John Stow: `On the 10 of January at a sessionsh olden in the justice hall of the Old Baily in London, for the gaol delivery of Newgate, William Carter of the city of London was there indicted, arraigned and condemned of high treason, for printing a seditious and traitorous book in English entitled A Treatise of Schism and was for the same, according to the sentencep ronounced against him on the next morrow drawn from Newgate to Tyburn, and there hanged boweled and quartered.' 118 Considering the difficulties under which they functioned, the twenty- one secret presses which operated in England in the period under investigation 114S ee Chapter 4. 115M artin, A treatise of schism, sig. D2`. 116J udith 12:2 . 117T he chief pursuivant Richard Topcliff, who arrestedC arter, made a notation in one copy of the book that Carter confessedt o printing 1,250 copies. 118J ohn Stow, Annals of England (London, 1600), STC 23335, sig. hhhh4"-hhhh5r.F ather Persons' memoirs of 1583 say that Carter had been ̀ racked nearly to death, but the torturers who directed that monstrous punishment could extract nothing out of them but a frequent repetition of the holy Name of Jesus'. J. H. Pollen, ed., ̀ Father Persons' memoirs,' in CRS Miscellanea IV, CRS, 4 (London, 1907), p. 75. 238 achieved remarkable results. 119I n fact, for a period of six years, 1592-1598, they were responsible for producing nearly all of the devotional texts intended for the English Catholic audience. It should be no surprise to discover that the most dramatic increase in the production of devotional texts - both at home and abroad - occurred after 1580, when the first Jesuits arrived in England. 120 Father Robert Persons of the Society of Jesus, superior of the mission to England, arrived in Dover on 12 June 1580 disguised as a `captain returned from the Low Countries' in a `suite of bluff laid with gold lace, with hat and feathers suited to the same.' 121I n April of the same year, he and Fr Campion had been granted an exemption from the Tridentine decree that forbade the printing of anonymous texts and were allowed, for the progress of this important cause, to conceal the name of the author, the printer and the place of printing 122It is . clear, therefore, that even the Roman curia expected that the printing of Catholic literature would be part of the Jesuit enterprise in England. The prospect of a press was certainly considered shortly after they arrived when Persons and Campion met with a group of secular priests in Uxbridge to discuss strategy for the future of the mission. 123B y October his first underground press was in operation. Persons recalled in his Domestical Difficulties `having procured a print and printers in a village called Greenstead 7 miles out of London whereof Mr Steven Brinkley ...w as the corrector and 19 See ARCR II, p. 225. 120W alsham, ̀ Domure preachers', p. 93. 121R ostenburg, The Minority Press and the English Crown, p. 23. ; L. Hicks, Letters and Memorials of Father Robert Persons, S. J.: vol. I (to 1588), CRS, 39 (London, 1942) p. xv; Walsham, `Domure preachers, ' p. 83. 122A . Q. Meyer, England and the Catholic Church under Queen Elizabeth (New York, 1967), p. 487. 123H icks, Letters and Memorials of Father Robert Persons, S. J., p. xxxi. 239 overseer.' 124T he house was owned by a Mr Brookesby who was certainly oblivious to the activity since Persons later remarked that `there were great difficulties in carrying out the project. Everything had to be brought from London and the press had to be worked so that Master Brookesby should not know what was going on. ' 125 The necessaryp recautions were observed and the Catholic workmen whom Brinkley enlisted went about their errands disguised as gentlemen.1 26T he press' clandestine activity was short-lived, however. Spies were everywhere and regardless of how hard Persons and his manager Stephen Brinkley tried to conceal their operation, printing was simply not an occupation easily concealed.1 27B ut as dangerous as the actual printing of forbidden texts may have been, at least this could be done in relative seclusion. Buying paper was a different matter altogether, and it was due to one such simple errand that the Green Street Press came to an abrupt end: `The parish officials began to cause trouble by wanting us to go to their church. There were rumours, too, that the press was suspected,a nd that owing to an incautious purchase of paper we should certainly be taken. ' 128T heir fears were realised when `Brinkley's man, ' on one such errand `was taken by 124P ollen, `The memoirs of Father Robert Persons', p. 182. The funds for the operation may have come from George Gilbert, a wealthy Catholic whom Personsh ad met in Rome. When Personsa rrived in London, he went immediately to visit Gilbert who was imprisoned in the Marshalsea. 125H icks, Letters and Memorials of Father Robert Persons, S. J., p. xxxii. 126S outhern, Elizabethan Recusant Prose, p. 354. Seven printers worked at the press, of whom five were arrested: Steven Brinkley, John Harris, John Harvey, John Tinker and John Compton. Arthur Hawkes, `The Birchley Hall secret press, ' The Library, 7 (1926), pp. 138- 139. 127B rinkley was arrested for printing Catholic works in August 1581. 128H icks, Letters and Memorials of Father Robert Persons, S. J., p. xxxii. `At this time also having gotten a printer with much charge and peril to be carried to a house of Mr Brooksbye of Leicestershire and Mr James [Stephen] Brinkley to be prefect thereof, I went thither, divers perils in the way twice or thrice, being once stayed by the watch, and Mr Brinkley's man going about to buy paper in London, was taken, sent to the tower and racked. ' Pollen, `The memoirs of Father Robert Persons, ' p. 29. 240 treason and carried to the tower and tortured out of hand, whereupon they were constrained to fly with print, press, paper & all. ' 129 Persons was undeterred and immediately set out to find `fresh facilities for a printing press.' 130T he press was set up again in a house provided by the prominent Catholic Anthony Brown, Viscount Monatgue, who, unlike the previous landlord, certainly was aware of Father Persons' intentions. The operation remained there for only a short time, perhaps until March 158 1; more rumours and more suspicions made it necessaryt o relocate yet again. The press was now situated at the home of another well-known Catholic, Lady Cecil Stoner `standing in a wood fast by Henley' and it was from here that Fr Campion printed his Rationes decem or ten reasons why Catholics should refuse to attend Anglican services.1 31B ut this venue proved to be no more secure than the other two. An order by the Privy Council to search the Stoner house was given on 4 August 1581 and nine days later, Stephen Brinkley, who had managed this press as well, was in the Tower. 132 On 22 July of the same year Edmund Campion was captured and taken to the same prison. With some senseo f his own fate, perhaps, he had written to the Jesuit General Claudio Aquaviva only weeks before that `Nothing else 129Ib id, p. 182. We can be certain that four works were printed in the short time of the operation of the press, and nearly as certain that another two came from the samep ress. Thomas Hide's A consolatory epistle to the afflicted Catholics is a reprint of an earlier edition which had been produced in Louvain a year earlier. Person's own Brief discourse containing certain reasons why Catholics refuse to go to Church tries to conceal its local origin by alleging that it was printed in Douai for John Lyon. 130R ostenburg, The minority press and the English crown, p. 24. 131P ollen, `The memoirs of Father Robert Persons', p. 29.; Edmund Campion, Rationes decem: quibus fretus, certamen adversariis obtulit in causaf idei (Enland, secret press, 1581), STC 4536.5. 132I bid, p. 30. 241 was lacking to this cause than that to our books written with ink should succeedt hose others which are daily being published, written in blood.' 133 The authorities were of coursel ooking for Personsa s well, and so when he encountered a group of Catholic men in Sussex who were planning on secretly leaving for France and who invited him to join them he was faced with a dilemma. His memoirs record that he had `no such intention when he came there, nevertheless seeing this present opportunity and facility, many important reasons suggested themselves for making the journey, and he seriously debated with himself the greater part of the night. ' 134H e considered that if he left for France it would be difficult for him to enter England again, much more difficult in fact than his first entrance a year earlier. Although he landed at Dover then with some reputation, and perhaps even with his picture displayed at various ports - the English authorities were well aware of his company's activities as they made their way across Europe - now, a year later he was nothing less than notorious. 135 Naturally, Persons worried about the popular reaction to a sudden departure. He had only been in England for a year, and hastening to France as the heat of religious oppression intensified, while Father Campion suffered in the Tower, and while the men and women he came to serve endured the government's wrath for their faith, would certainly appear to some that he was 133R ichard Simpson, Edmund Campion: A Biography (London, 1867), p. 217. 134J H. Pollen, ed., `Father Persons' memoirs, ' in CRS Miscellanea IV, CRS, 4 (London, 1907), p. 27. Persons always uses the third person in his memoirs and in Domestical Difficulties. 135O f that first entry in June 1580 he says `there were so many difficulties and perils proposed and so small hope of escaping that most were of the opinion that they should intermit that mission for the present and expect some better time, considering their coming was known, and that ports laid for them with spies to discover them, and some added also as written out of England that their pictures were drawn and sent to the ports. ' Pollen, `The memoirs of Father Robert Persons, ' p. 200. 242 abandoning them when they needed him the most. Moreover `the heretics too might rejoice as if he had withdrawn from fear. ' 136T hese were the thoughts that occupied him as he considered the alternatives. In the end, Persons decided that he could be much more effective in his work for the mission if he could act as its advocate abroad, to be `its agent beyond [the] seasf or many matters. ' 137T he events surrounding his printing operation certainly helped him decide. The pressesi n England were gone, but there were yet books to be printed and so he departed for Rouen, sometime between 13th and 21 st August, where he could continue the work which he considered so essential for the maintenance of Catholicism in England. Writing to the General of the Jesuits from the safer shores of France following the execution of Fr Campion, 138P ersons told his superior that he left the country first in order to consult with Doctor Allen and second ̀ to set up some sort of printing press in some place near-by where the books could be printed which are brought out by our fathers in English as circumstances call for them for. ' And he added, ̀ there is nothing which helps and had helped and will help in the future and spread our cause so much as the printing of Catholic books, 139 whether of controversy or devotion. ' Persons had been working on three books before he left England, De persecutione An lidc ana, A defence of censure and The first book of the Christian exercise `in which were contained the principal motives to encourage Catholics to virtue and specially to patience and firm resolve to bear the 136 Pollen, `The memoirs of Father Robert Persons,' p. 27. 137 Ibid 138T his took place on 1 December 1581. 139H icks, ed., Letters and Memorials of Father Robert Persons,S . J., p. 107. 243 present persecution. ' 40S teven Brinkley, who had managed Person's short- lived presses in England, was released from the Tower on 24 June 1583 ̀ by the intercession of friends and on bail' and he soon after departed for Rouen to take up the work again, but now, free from a hostile government and able to conduct the enterprise without fear or anxiety, he had much greater expectations for success.1 41B rinkley now assisted George Minton, `a very pious and zealous merchant' whom Persons had placed in charge of the venture. 142T he Rouen press operated until 1585, when Father Persons left for Flanders `about mid-Lent'. 143 At this point, Father Person's active participation in printing Catholic literature stalled, but his literary activity continued unabated as he used other continental pressest o produce the polemical works that he wrote after leaving Rouen. Persons' role in the production of devotional literature for the Catholics at home cannot be overstated. As the Jesuit Henry More wrote in 1660 `Following his example, many books were printed in English in many cities as well as Flanders as in France; and good books, apt to the purpose and in sufficient numbers, became a most efficacious means of helping 140P ollen, `Father Persons' memoirs,' p. 27. SeeC hapter 6 for a discussiono f the role of the Resolution and its adaptation for a Protestanta udience. 141S outhern, Elizabethan Recusant Prose, p. 356. 142P ollen, `Father Persons' memoirs, ' p. 31, and Morris, Troubles, second series, p. 37. A. C. Southern holds the view that Hinton acted more as a publisher rather than as a printer and that the actual impressions were produced by the established Rouen printer George L'Oyselet. But Allison and Rogers have assigned nine titles to what they believe to be the distinct press created by Father Persons and operating from 1582-1585. Southern bases his conclusion on typographical evidence, but there is always the possibility that Persons purchased or borrowed print from L'Oyselet. `The argument designed to show that the French printer, George L'Oyselet, printed all the books associated with Persons which emanated from Rouen between 1581-1585 is inconclusive. ' A. F. Allison and D. M. Rogers, The Library (1951), p. 48. 143T . F. Knox, ed. Letters and Memorials of Cardinal Allen, p. 222 n. Flinton was the compiler and translator of A manual of prayers newly gathered out of many and divers famous authors which underwent 29 editions between 1583-1640. 244 Catholics. ' 144H e was the author of twenty-three books and contributed to at least one other. '45 With the exception of the Christian Directory all of these were works of controversy. His contribution to the dissemination of devotional literature is, however, considerable, for Persons was not done with printing when he went to the Netherlands, nor had he ceasedt o realise just how essential the activity was in sustaining Catholic loyalty at home. Two decades later, in 1607 or 1608, Persons would make his greatest contribution to the literary movement of English Catholicism when he started up his last 146 and greatest press at the English College in St Omer. St Omer, located in the Artois province of the Spanish Netherlands, was a major centre of activity for the English Catholic community. The religious environment there was attractive to those English men and women who were not simply seeking an atmosphere of indifferent forbearance after enduring a fierce and relentless persecution, a place where their religion would be merely tolerated, but where their Catholicism would be encouraged and enlivened. In St Omer they found such a place. The town was, according to the seventeenth century Jesuit historian Henry More `distinguished for a faith and fidelity that had never been broken. ' 147T he English publisher and St Omer resident John Heigham remarked in the preface to his translation of Luis de la Puente's Meditations upon the mysteries of our holy faith on the 144P ollen, `Father Persons' memoirs, ' p. 29. 145T he latter is Humphrey Leech's Dutiful and respective considerations upon four several heads of proof and trial in matters of religion (St Omer, 1609), STC 15362. 146T he press was located on the property of the English College, established in 1593 by Father Persons to educate English boys. It was initially financed by a royal allowance of 1,720 scudi. F. Edwards Robert Persons: the Biography of an Elizabethan Jesuit, 1546-1610 (St Louis, n. d. ), p. 157. For an account of the foundation of the college see H. Chadwick, St Omers to Ston, byu rst (London, 1962). The press may actually have been in operation as early as 1607 since five works were produced from the press in 1608. 245 particularly Catholic character of St Omer, providing a type of census of religious orthodoxy: 22 Capuchins, 51 Franciscans, 50 Dominicans; 64 Benedictines; 48 Jesuits and 80 Canons were resident in the city `and thus much concerning the men, who are in number three-hundred and fifteen souls in one only little town.. .b esides very many pastors, sub-pastors, secular priests, and secular persons, who some more, some less, practice the aforesaid virtues to become contemplatives or men of prayer. ' 148 The first printer to obtain a licence in the town was Francois Bellet who had been apprenticed to Plantin and Moretus at Antwerp. 149A ccording to the petition which he submitted to the Town Council on 8 October 1601 for a licence to open his shop, he reveals that it was the prospect of English trade that drew him to the town, there being `des etudians anglois en grand nombre' already resident there. 150 He began printing English texts at St Omer in 1603 or 1604, but produced his last work there - The prudential balance of religion - in 1609. Bellet had been correct to speculate on a busy English trade in St Omer and in 1601c ould have predicted a long and successful career there. He could not have predicted, however, the establishment, around 1608, of another press that specialised in English Catholic texts, an operation which would not only deprive Bellet of even the smallest share in the market, but which would dominate the industry of English Catholic printing there for decades. 147F . Edwards, The Jesuits in England: Historia Missionis Anglicanae Societatis Jesu (1660) of Henry More (London, 1985), p. 213. 148J ohn Heigham, trans., Meditations upon the mysteries of our holy faith (St Omer, 1619), STC 20486, sig. ***2"-***3". 149C . A. Newdigate, `Notes on the seventeenth-centuryp rinting press of the English College at Saint Omers,' The Library, 10 (1919), p. 180. '50Ibid, p. 181. It was a city, according to Fr More `most suited to English youngsters by reason of its similarity to England in weather, scenerya nd mode of life. ' Edwards, The Jesuits in England, p. 213. 246 Although other printers came to St Omer after Bellet departed, they could hardly hope to compete with the Jesuit operation for the English market. ' 51 The government spy Lewis Owen published his disdain for the press and its commercial advantage in his The running register: recording a true relation of the state of English colleges, in all foreign parts: In the English College of St Omer, the Jesuits have a printing Press, to print such Popish books and seditious, (yea, blasphemous) Pamphlets, as are written by any English Jesuit... T heir press is worth unto them more than four hundred pounds yearly. For they themselves are the authors, correctors, composers and pressmen; in so much that it doth cost them nothing but Paper and ink, and those books they do sell at an unreasonable rate for they are not ashamedt o sell a book that contains not a quire of paper, for five or six shillings, and to that purpose they have their factors and brokers in London, and al parts of England, to dispose and sell these books and pamphlets, and transport the money unto them to St Omer. ' 52 Even John Gee would have to have been amazed if he realised that of the 156 titles that he listed in The foot out of the snare forty-four came from the Jesuit press at St Omer. Robert Persons had employed John Wilson, a secular priest who had been his secretary while Persons was rector of the English College in Rome, as the manager of the press.1 53I t was an impressive enterprise even from the beginning. When the bishop of St Omer was taken on a tour of the college 151C harles Boscard, son of the Douai printer Jacques,m ay even have come to St Omer in 1610 to take Bellet's position as the town printer. He was able, and his widow after him, to conduct a busy trade there. 152L ewis Owen, The running register: recording a true relation of the state of English colleges, in all foreign parts (London, 1626), STC 18996, p. 14. 153P ersons was rector of the Venerable English College from 1597-16 10. Wilson entered the Venerabile on 1 November 1603 and was ordained in 1605 (Anstruther, 2, p. 358). His name is not in the Responsa Scholarum but he had signed the Liber Ruber (CRS, 37, p. 133). In addition to his work of oversight of the press, he was himself wrote The English Martyrology (see Chapter 4) and edited or translated over twenty devotional works. He managed the press for nearly forty years. 247 facilities he was pleased with everything that he saw, `but what he admired above all was a small house containing a printing-press with all its appliances, which (house) we have lately fitted up for this purpose. ' 154F rom 1608-1640 the press produced 215 vernacular titles, a mixture of both devotional and polemical works. If there is a bias indicated in the production, it is certainly the predictable tendency to print works written by Jesuits or translated by Jesuits or which were somehow connected to the Society of Jesus.1 55 Although the foreign printer of Catholic works enjoyed a liberty unknown to his counterpart in London, he was not without his own challenges. The greatest of these was smuggling the contraband literature into England. The dissemination of forbidden Catholic literature was achieved through a vast and often complicated network of merchants, sailors, factors, agents and corrupt port officials on both sides of the channel. Father Persons spoke of the system he devised for `smuggling in Catholic books, holy oils, vestments and letters throughout the kingdom. Places, times, occasions and trustworthy men to look after it all have been appointed, and everything else is needed... W e lacked all this hitherto. ' 156P roducing the text may have been a rather routine and effortless undertaking, but the transportation of the books was an entirely different matter. Intelligencers on the continent made arrangements with willing sea captains to conceal the cargo among the legitimate wares heading for English ports. When they reached those ports, the shipments were met by government officers whose duty it was to search the vessels for contraband, 154N ewdigate, `Notes on the seventeenthc entury printing press,' p. 183. 155M ichael Walsh, S.J . `The publishing policy of the English Jesuits at St Omer, 1608-1759, ' in Keith Robbins, (ed. ), Studies in Church History (1981), p. 242. 156C ited in Francis Edwards, Robert Persons,E lizabethan Jesuit, 1546-161 0 (St Louis, n. d.) 248 and by Catholic agents who, relying on ingenuity, bribes and luck worked to place the books in the hands of English Catholics. The government also relied on intelligence and on informers like Lewis Owen and William Udall to discover when and where the shipments of `popish trash' were to arrive. The ever-increasing vigilance required a certain degree of creativity on the part of those who were in the business of smuggling books into England. The Jesuit lay-brother Ralph Emerson was particularly skilful in this regard. In 1584 Robert Persons was happy to report that `He has done wonders by contriving two new ways of crossing over, and by means of them he had introduced four priests and 810 books. ' 157 But Emerson's luck was soon to change. He left Paris for England in September 1584 with Father William Weston and a shipment of books `well equipped for the journey' with information, clothing and money. 158B y 14 October Persons had received no news of the pair but concluded that `no bad news of them is sufficiently satisfactory and a sign that all is well. ' 159 But all was not well. On arriving in England Emerson, not daring to land at a port with his cargo of forbidden books, left Father Weston and the guide that Persons had provided somewhere ̀ on a piece of open coast.' He himself remained on the small boat, also provided by Persons, with the books. They had agreed that Weston would send for him later in the dead of night - `in secreto et obscuro noctis' - `and likewise the books, of which we had brought no small number for distribution in England. ' 160W eston and his guide, Henry, made their way to London, while Emerson went to Norwich `for 157H icks, Letters and Memorials of Father Robert Persons,S . J, p. 227. 158Ib id, p. 243. 249 from thence it is the custom that goods and merchandise should be conveyed by the public riders and carriers from the neighbouring places to London. ' 161 Emerson arrived in London the next day and joined Father Weston there. The latter recalled in his autobiography the events that followed: `I questioned him about the condition of our affairs, and he told me that all was right, but that the baggage was still detained at the inn, and that it was not possible for it to be removed without the host's consent or permission. Here we could not make up our minds as to what course we ought to pursue. It would be too painful and cowardly to abandon the books; and yet to claim and redeem them seemed full of peril. ' In the end, Emerson tried to collect the books, but when he went to the inn to retrieve them he was greeted by the pursuivants who `thrust him into a dark and narrow prison. ' 162 Avoiding the scrutiny of the officials and pursuivants who examined ships, cargoes and passengersa rriving at English ports was but one step in a long and complicated process of disseminating orthodox literature, nor was it the last. Having succeededh ere, the Catholic agent still needed to circulate the books. John Gee was aware that in 1624, at least, this could be done without much risk of reprisals, but that toleration which so annoyed him was short- lived and hardly typical of an era of unrelenting anti-Catholicism. Because of the dangers involved in the process and the secrecy required for its success, little is known about the procedures that were used to disperse books. In a rare revelation, though, Father Persons described the system used by the Jesuits '59 Ibid, p. 254. 160P ollen, `Father Persons' memoirs, ' p. 157. 161J ohn Morris, ed., ̀ The life of Father William Weston' in The Troubles of our Catholic Forefathers, Second series, (London, 1875) p. 3 1. 162Ib id, p. 41. 250 when they first arrived in England. To the Rector of the English College in Rome he wrote `So much for the books. With no less zeal on the part of the priests they are circulated, even at cost or danger, in order that what is written may reach the hands of all. Their method is as follows: all the books are brought together to London without any being issued, and, after being distributed into the hands of the priests in parcels of a hundred or fifty, are issued at exactly the same time to all parts of the kingdom. Now on the next day, when according to their wont, the officials begin to search the houses of Catholics becauset hese books have been distributed, there are plenty of young men of birth ready to introduce these books by night into the dwellings of the heretics, into workshops as well as palaces, to scatter them in the Court also and about the streets, so that it may not be Catholics only who are accused in the matter. ' 163F rom Persons' account we learn that book distribution was not a haphazard affair, depending on a few priests concealing a few books beneath their cloaks. On the contrary, there was in place from the very beginning of the Jesuit mission, if not earlier, a well-organised programme of circulation. Three years before he died and some twenty-seven years after he and Father Campion arrived in England, Persons reflected with some pride on how much the Catholic cause had progressed in his homeland, attributing that advancement to two things: priests and books. In the last edition of the Christian Directory he revised before his death, he assuredh is readers that `there want not any at this day (our merciful Lord be glorified for it) neither store of Godly books, nor yet of skilful men, in our own country, that are well 163H icks, Letters and Memorials of Father Robert Persons,S . J., p. 85. 251 able to guide a zealous spirit, in the right way to virtue. ' 164 Priests and books were the two fundamental elements of the counter-Reformation in England, without which the legislation of 1559 would have finally and completely wiped Catholicism from English life. Everyone realised this, which is why priests and books were endlessly hunted and destroyed by a hostile government. For the same reason Catholics risked everything to make sure that the government failed, and to make certain that English Catholics had accesst o both priests and books. 164P ersons,T he Christian directory... Lately reviewed , corrected, and not a little altered by the author himself (St Omer, 1607), STC 19354.5, sig. Gg4"-Gg5`. Chapter Six: English Catholic Devotional books and English Protestant Readers. `How poor and these new doctors are of all spiritual doctrine tending to good life, and reformation of manners; seeing they are content to use and pervert our books for some show thereof. ' Robert Persons, S. J. The Christian directory guiding men to eternal salvation. ' Catholic authors, translators, printers and publishers devoted considerable time and resources - and took considerable risks - to provide their co-religionists in England with orthodox books that were intended to sustain their Catholic faith. One must not assume, however, that Catholic men and women, recusants or `church-papists, ' satisfied their desire for devotional literature only with those orthodox books smuggled into England or printed secretly in London. Nothing really prevented a Catholic from purchasing a devotional book in the same way as his or her Protestant neighbour, browsing among the shops in St Paul's, perusing the titles that were available.t here, considering the price and one's finances and then, as anyone might do, simply purchasing a book: a small act of commerce with really no, or very little, confessional significance. Attending a service in the established church made one a sinner and a schismatic, but reading a Protestant devotional book, especially if it had Catholic origins, must have seemedt o many Catholics an innocuous and insignificant affair. Catholics therefore had accesst o what were essentially Catholic books, very often only slightly altered, through the back door as it were, that is by way of the legitimate press. It might not have been difficult for a Catholic to acquire a copy of Diego Estella's The contempt of the world and the vanity 1 Robert Persons, The Christian Directory (St Omer, 1607), STC 19354.5, sig. * 1'. 253 thereof which had been printed by Father Person's press in Rouen, but it would have been dangerous to do so. Not so, however, with A method unto mortification: called heretofore The contempt of the world now purused for the benefit of this church, reformed and published by T. Rogers which is a version of the same book. This one however, like the church it was intended for, was `reformed' and contained indexes of Catholic errors.2 This thesis argues that the vernacular devotional literature of the English Counter-Reformation was in large part responsible for the survival of Catholicism there. But it argues in this chapter that the impact of that literature extended beyond the persecuted Catholic community and that much of it was eagerly embraced - cleansed of its errors, naturally - by the Protestant establishment. Catholic though it was, this devotional literature nonetheless had an impact on the wider religious culture of sixteenth and seventeenth century England. To be sure, the authors and translators of Catholic devotional literature undertook their labours, if not exclusively, at least principally for the sake of English Catholics. We have already seen in Chapter 4 that many of these authors and translators welcomed a mixed audience as an opportunity to chastise the Protestants for their schism and heresy and to reproach wavering Catholics for their lack of resolve and constancy, exposing those unsuspecting readers to the invective of the preface or the diatribe contained in the dedication. But it is clear, too, that some authors or translators had more benign reasons for hoping that their works would make their way into Protestant households. Here it is important to consider that devotional writings Z George Cotton, trans., The contempt of the world and the vanity thereof (Rouen, 1584) STC 10541 and Thomas Rogers, trans., A method unto mortification: called heretofore The 254 were part of, not removed or distant from, the literary campaign to win souls back to the Catholic church. In this sense,t he goal of devotional and controversial works was identical: polemics and prayers could both be used as tools to draw Protestants away from heresy. No group was more aware of this than the Society of Jesus. The Jesuit mission was, ostensibly at least, inaugurated only to minister to Catholics, be they resolute recusants or practical church-papists; Jesuits sent on the English mission were specifically prohibited from associating with heretics.3 If the Jesuits remained faithful to this mandate as they secretly performed their pastoral ministry on English soil, the same cannot be said as they set about writing, editing or translating from the Continent. In fact, the Jesuits did not hesitate to engage Protestants, if not in person then at least in print; and once they had engaged them, they did not relent. As we have seen, devotional works could be used to great effect as vehicles for persuading Protestants of their errors, but their value and effectiveness did not end there. The Jesuits recognised even in the devotional book lacking any polemical content a powerful tool for conversion. We know this because Jesuits and other authors or translators declared their desire for Protestants to read those Catholic devotional books which bear not even the slightest trace of apologetics. Thomas Price, S.J ., for example, was hopeful that English Protestants would come across his translation of The history of our blessed contempt of the world... now purused for the benefit of this church, reformed and published by T. Rogers (London, 1605), STC 10543. Walsham, ̀ Domure preachers', p. 87. 3 ̀ The object aimed at by this mission is, firstly, to preserve, if God is propitious, and to advance in the faith and in our Catholic religion, all who are found to be Catholics in England; and secondly, to bring back to it whoever may have strayed from it either through ignorance or at the instigation of others. ' L. Hicks, Letters and Memorials of Father Robert Persons, S. J.: vol. I (to 1588), Catholic Record Society, 39 (London, 1942) p. 313. 255 lady of Loreto, a work of harmless devotion. The pages of the preface or the dedication neither rebuke nor condemn; rather than offer an argument or a defence, they simply offer a prayer that the Virgin Mary herself will `mollify and mercifully incline the hearts of them that shall read these thy wonders & miracles' so that having read the text the lost sheep will at once be `placed in the cherishing bosom of his dearest Mother the Holy Catholic Church. '4 Matthew Kellison, in his Paraphrastical and devout discourses upon the psalm Miserere made his desire explicit: `divers of the learned Catholics of our nation (gentle Reader) have writte[n] sundry books in our vulgar language.. .a nd I also according to my little ability and slender talents, have not been wanting in that kind I intend for ... all sinners as well Catholics, and whatsoever religion, I being debtor to all: & becauseI would have them all to peruse these discourses, I abstain from controversies in Religion. ' 5 The polemicist tried to win over the heretic by exposing him or her to the light of reason: the devotional author hoped to achieve the same victory by exposing the heretic to the light of faith. Books of prayers and devotions must surely have been regarded as effective tools for bringing erring Protestants to their senses,t o rouse them from their stupour and to remove the veil of deception and delusion which blinded them to the true faith. Enlightened by the truth which the Protestant encountered in such books of devotion, it must have been hoped that the reader would recognise the falsehood of the established religion, shake off the illusion of error and through the practice of proper piety willingly embrace proper belief. If the soul of the erring 4 Thomas Price, trans., The history of our blessed lady of Loreto (St Omer, 1608), STC 24141, sig. *4v. 256 Protestant were exposed to devotion untainted with heresy, then perhaps the intellect and the will would eventually adopt a doctrine free of error. Thus, Richard Hopkins was hopeful that an encounter with his orthodox translation of Granada's On prayer and meditation could be the cause of the conversion of many of his Protestant countrymen and women: Howbeit I have great hope that with the grace of God these Godly meditations will work much good effect for the conversion of many of them. For undoubtedly, that man is very wilful and obstinate in his wickedness, that reading advisedly all these godly meditations is not moved inwardly in his heart in some part of them to the fear, love, and service of almighty God, and to the abhorrence of sin, and amendment of his life. 6 And Robert Persons encouragest he `well meaning Protestant' who may happen upon his The Christian Directory to `read some Catholic spiritual books...w hereby I do not doubt but that the tender mercy of almighty God will so enlarge his heart, open his understanding, increase his knowledge, enkindle his affections, as he will feel other motions and cogitations than now he doth: for that the sparkles of true devotion once entering into his heart, they will work such divine effects, as no man knoweth, but he that recieveth them. ' 7 Protestants were exposed to Catholic devotional books in two ways: by secretly reading contraband Catholic literature or by purchasing Protestant, sanitised versions of what were originally Catholic texts. The extent to which Protestants were willing to undertake the risks associated with possessing 5 Matthew Kellison, Paraphrasticala nd devout discoursesu pon the psalm Miserere (Douai, 1635), STC 17130, sig. a2`-a3". 6 Richard Hopkins, trans., Of prayer and meditation (Paris, 1582), STC 16907, sig a8"-b I r. Persons, The Christian directory umeng, sig. ***5'. 257 forbidden books is, of course, impossible to discern.8 We do know, however, that some Protestants did possessC atholic books. On 21 February 1569 the library of the antiquarian John Stow was raided by the agents of the Bishop of London. 9 The scholar had been suspected of popery and the evidence found on the shelves of his study left little doubt, if not of his religious convictions, at least of his sympathies.1 °A ccording to the report of the bishop's aide, which was forwarded to Secretary Cecil, Stow `bath great sort of foolish fabulous books of old print.. also touching books . printed in the old time. ' 11 The impressive library held a large number of Counter-Reformation, that is post- 1559 Catholic books, including Thomas Heskyn's The parliament of Christ avouching and declaring the enacted and received truth of the presence of his body and blood in the blessed sacrament;1 2 Richard Shacklock's A most excellent treatise of the beginning of heresies in our time; 13T homas Stapleton's translation of the Venerable Bede's The history of the church of England; 14 Thomas Dorman's A proof of certain articles in religion, denied by 8 The difficulty of assessing ownership and readership of a clandestine literature is discussed in Chapter 5. 9 Born c. 1525 and trained as a tailor, Stow devoted the last forty-five years of his life collecting printed books and manuscripts. It was not unusual for him to spend as much as £200 a year developing his collection. Known for his conservative views on religious matters, he came under the suspicion of government ministers and was charged, in 1568, with possession of a copy of the manifesto of the Spanish ambassador promoting the cause of the Duke of Alva in his dispute with Elizabeth over the possession of Spanish treasure in the English channel. See Janet Wilson, `A catalogue of the "unlawful" books found in John Stow's study on 21 February 1568/9, ' RH, 20 (1990), pp. 1-30; and DNB, vol. 19, p. 4. It does not appear that the books were confiscated, but only their titles recorded. No action was taken against Stow for possessing papist books. 10H e possessed Catholic books, it was claimed, `under the pretence of making Collections for his History. ' Wilson, `A catalogue of the "unlawful" books found in John Stow's study, ' p. 2. " E. Arber, A transcript of the registers of the Compnay of Stationers of London (London, 1875) I, p. 393. Cited in L. Rostenburg, The Minority Press and the English Crown: a Study in Repression, 1558-1625 (Nieuwkoop, 1971), p. 48. 12T homas Heskyns, The parliament of Christ (Antwerp, 1566), STC 13250. 13 Richard Shacklock, A most excellent treatise of the beginning of heresiesi n our time (Antwerp, 1565), STC 13888. This is a translation Cardinal StanislausH osius' De origione haetesium nostri temporis. 14T homas Stapleton, trans., The history of the church of England (Antwerp, 1565), STC 1778. 258 M. Jewell, set forth in defence of the Catholic belief therein; 15a nd several others. But the catalogue also contained works that would have been readily available to Catholics from London booksellers before the Settlement. A collector as industrious and meticulous as Stow would hardly have been inclined to part with them at the change of religion. Among these were Bonner's Doctrine; 16R oger Edgeworth's Sermons very fruitful, godly, and learned; 17B ishop Watson's Wholesome and Catholic doctrine concerning the seven sacraments;' 8 what is called in the inventory `A great old printed book, containing the manner of the List [Lives] of Saints;' 19L eonard Pollard's Five homilies of late, made by a right, good and virtuous clerk; 20a book described in the catalogue as ̀ The pearl of perfection made by James Canceller; '21 and The wav home to Christ and truth. 22 The inclusion of these latter books in Stow's catalogue reminds us that pre-Settlement books did not evaporate with the legislation that forbade the possession of them. Catholics and Protestants may have relied on these as well as on new books to enhance their spiritual life. 15T homas Dorman, A proof of certain articles of religion (Antwerp, 1564), STC 7062. 16I t is recorded in the inventory as ̀ An exposition of the creed, ten commandments, pater poster, etc. Ave Maria, etc. set forth by doctor Bonner. ' 17R oger Edgeworth, Sermons very fruitful, godly and learned (London, 1557), STC 7482. 18T homas Watson, Wholesome and Catholic doctrine concerning the seven sacraments (London, 1558), STC 25112. 19S trype, in his Life of John Stowe, to be found in the introduction to the antiquarian's A survey of the cities of London and Westminster (London, 1720), p. xxi, claims that this is the Golden Legend, STC 24873. See Wilson, `A catalogue of the "unlawful" books found in John Stow's study, ' p. 3. 20 Leonard Pollard, Five homilies of late, made by a right, good and virtuous clerk (London, 1558), STC 20091. 21N ot in the STC. It has been identified as Of the life active and contemplative entitled the pearl of perfection which was printed in 1558 by T. Marshe. See Wilson, `A catalogue of the "unlawful" books, ' p. 5. 22J . Proctor, trans., The way home to Christ (London, 1554), STC 24754. This is a translation of a Latin work by St Vincent of Lerins. 259 Stow's situation was not, of course, typical. It was his profession to collect books and to write histories, and he may have believed that his status as a professional antiquarian made him exempt from the regulations which forbade the possession of popish literature. Perhaps it did since the matter appears to have gone no further than compilation of the list. Sir Edward Dering, another antiquarian but one whose conservative tendencies went only as far as to make him `distinctly Protestant without being puritan'23 also possesseds everal Catholic books and at least one pre-Reformation devotional work named in the inventory `Here after followeth the book called the mirror of our lady. '24 Although he was a member of Parliament and collaborated closely with influential bishops, there is nothing to suggest that Dering possesseda ny special privilege or license which allowed him to collect Catholic tracts. John Morris, who has been described as a `moderate Puritan' possessedt wo works of Alonso Rodriguez as well as a copy of the Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Morris possesseds everal works of controversy by Catholic authors as well, including Persons' Apology for the catholic hierarchy in England; Discussion of Barlow's answer; Thomas Stapleton's Tres Thomae, Louis Richeome's Plaint au roy pour la compagnie de Jesus ; Stanislos Hosius' Confutation Prolegom ; the Jesu Societatis ; and Sparing discovery of those in Englan 25 . The vicar Richard Mote owned, in addition to a number of Catholic controversial works, books listed in his inventory as 23D NB, vol. 5, p. 845. 24I t was printed in London in 1530 by Richard Fawkes. Anon. Here after followeth the book called the mirror of our lady (London, 1530), STC 17542. 25T. A. Birrell, The Library of John Morris (London, 1976). 260 `the first part of the resolution, ' `the Rheims testament in English, ' and `a popish prayer book gilt, ' the latter being appraised at `xiij d. '26 Of course Protestant apologists required Catholic tracts if only to respond to them, since Protestant engagement with Catholic texts consisted, to a large extent, of `replies, ' `answers', and `rejoinders. ' 27T he Protestant editors who would `peruse,' that is correct the Catholic text, obviously had the book in front of them. The puritan William Crashaw had easy accesst o Catholic tracts from the cargos which had been seized by the authorities. On 26 Febraury 1610 he asked the Earl of Salisbury, `And whereas I am informed some popish books newly taken are in your lordship's disposition, I beseech your lordship continue your wonted favour and let me have of each kind one, for my own use.' 28 The extent to which the non-professional Protestant, the lay man or woman, had accesst o Catholic books - or even desired the same - cannot be determined with any accuracy. We do not how many shared the experience of the Protestant father of the Benedictine author Dom Augustine Baker who `did daily at least in ... spend much time recital of vocal prayers and that out of ... Catholic authors, whereof by some means or other he had gotten some variety. In the English tongue there were then no prayer books save some few Catholic ones whereof he had gotten some.' 29 We can however be certain of this: the influence of Catholic, Counter-Reformation, devotional literature extended to the very core of the Protestant community, not as the forbidden 26E . S. Leedham-Green, Books in Cambridge Inventories (Cambridge, 1986), pp. 516-521. 27M ilton, Catholic and Reformed, p. 235. 28C ited in Helen White, English Devotional Literature 1600-1640 (Madison, Wisc., 1931), p. 141. 29C ited in N. Tyacke, England's Long Reformation, 1500-1800, (London, 1998), p. 182. 261 papist texts were circulated, but as the Protestant editor made that literature suitable for an audience which would not tolerate the superstitions, errors, and popish accretions which invariably accompanied the original, Catholic edition. In order to supply for the increasing demand for devotional literature among English Protestants, editors and printers associated with the legitimate press frequently turned to Catholic authors not only for inspiration and insights, but for whole and entire texts. 30 This must be one of the greatest ironies of the religious dispute in England: English Protestants may have relied on the Reformers for their theology, but it appears that they depended on Catholics, to some extent at least, for their piety. The reliance of Protestants on Catholic books has been seen as an indictment of the spirituality - or at least the literature of spirituality - of Anglicanism, which has been criticised as being slim and insignificant, failing to satisfy the spiritual hunger of its adherents.3 1C ontemporary observers were no more generous in their appraisal of the situation: `If any man esteem me to do them wrong herein, ' Tobie Matthew challenged, `let them affront me by showing such a Protestant book as this, I mean not that they should show me such a book of humility, for ought I ever heard, they have never written a book of that virtue; but let them show me any such book of any virtue. '32 30T hat increase is demonstratedb y the rise in the number of volumes produced in the period under discussion. 31 ̀The efflorescence of baroque spirituality, principally French but also Spanish, Italian and to some extent German, was made available to English readers by the labours of the English recusants - one says "English readers" rather than "English Catholic readers" because the literature of Protestant spirituality was so thin and impoverished that many English Protestants, especially "high" Anglican, had to have recourse to the Catholic religious classics for their devotional nourishment. ' T. A. Birrell `English Counter-Reformation book culture, ' RH, 22 (1994), p. 118. Alexandra Walsham says that Persons' Resolution `filled a glaring gap in the existing range of Protestant literature. Spiritual and devotional writing was a genre which the reformed ministry was slow to develop... ' Past and Present, 168 (2000), p. 104. 32T obie Matthew, trans., A treatise of humility (Rouen, 1631), STC 21145, sig. A5`. 262 Protestants replied aggressively to the criticism, denying that simply because Catholics produced more spiritual books - something which could not be denied - they were therefore spiritually superior. Daniel Featley admitted that when it came to devotional books `the Romanists for the most part exceed in bulk, but our divines in weight. The Church of Rome (like Leah) is more fruitful; but her devotions (like Leah in this also) are bleary-eyed with superstition. But the mother of our faith (like Rachel) is not altogether so fruitful, yet she is more comely and beautiful, and I hope will be hereafter as fruitful. ' 33R ichard Rogers was motivated by the Catholics' ridicule to produce a work which would prove them wrong. He wrote his Seven treatises containing such direction as is gathered out of the holy Scriptures, leading and guiding to true happiness because the papists cast in our teeth, that we have nothing set out for the certain and daily direction of a Christian, when yet they have published (they say) many treatises of that argument... they cannot deny that both in catechisms, sermons and other treatises there is set forth by us that which may clearly direct Christians, and stir up godly devotion in them though all be not gathered together in one volume. 34' How justified was the Catholic claim that English Protestants were bereft of their own spiritual and devotional books? It may be the case that devotional literature was a genre which was slow to mature in English Protestantism,3 5b ut it certainly was not the case that the Protestant establishment, at any point, underestimated the value of that genre. In this regard, two considerations must be made: first, the English Protestant 33D aniel Featley, Ancilla pietatis: or, the handmaid to private devotion (London, 1626), STC 10726, sig. M. 34R ichard Rogers, Seven treatises, containing such direction as is gathered out of the Holy Scriptures, leading and guiding to true happiness (London, 1603), STC 21215, sig. A6`. 263 community was not without its own corpus of spiritual literature; it may simply be that both contemporary and modern observers failed to recognise it as such. Few Catholic sermons were printed for the members of that religion, but the printing of Protestant sermons - at least after 1580 - was an industry that never ceasedt o flourish. Sermons, had after all, supplanted those Catholic practices which were so abhorrent to Biblical simplicity. The printed, Protestant sermon was itself a literary genre designed both to educate and edify, to provide spiritual nourishment apart from the Sunday service and the ministrations of the clergy. The printed sermon may not have resembled the spiritual books that were familiar to the Catholic reader, but the printed sermon was nonetheless, like the litanies and manuals that were so much a part of the Catholic devotional tradition, essentially a literature of devotion. 36 Second, as we have seen in Chapter 2, a large portion of the Catholic corpus of devotional literature was made up of material relating to the Virgin Mary, to the saints and sacraments,t hat is to traditionally Catholic objects of devotion which had been specifically, though unevenly, rejected by the Reformers. 37 Spirituality - Catholic or Protestant - was always the product of theology. Catholic theology provided a much larger sphere from which to draw objects of devotion while Protestant theology had in effect significantly restricted those elements to which the godly believer could direct his or her devotion. 35W alsham, ̀ Domure preachers', p. 104. 36T he STC provides ample evidence for the popularity and success of the printed Protestant sermon. 37T he female glory: or, the life and death of our blessed lady, the holy virgin Mary (London, 1635) by Anthony Stafford was this Laudian's response to the Puritan neglect of the Virgin Mary: `Till they are good Marians, they shall never be good Christians, while they derogate from the dignity of the Mother, they cannot truly honour the Son. ' Cited in A. Milton, Catholic and Reformed (Cambridge, 1995), p. 67. The book was `esteemed egregiously scandalous among the puritans. ' DNB, vol. 18, p. 853. 264 The intercession of the saints had occupied much of the devotional repertoire of the pre-Reformation Catholic, but with the religious changes, their influence had been significantly diminished; their images had been removed from churches; the monasteries and confraternaties which had been placed under their patronage and had promoted their cults had been dissolved; the books which recorded their heroic deeds and virtues, the popular `lives' which had been so much a part of the religious culture in England, had all but vanished. With the Rosary, the lives of the saints, instructions how to hear Mass or prepare for confession removed from the devotional scene, what was left for the pious Protestant reader to ponder of an evening? Meditations on the Passion, admonitions for living a godly life, daily prayers, poetry, scriptural commentaries and sermons - these now comprised the literature of English Protestant spirituality. Of course with the potential matter for devotion so dramatically reduced by their theology, Protestants produced different forms of devotional literature. It is not, therefore, necessarily a lack of appreciation for the genre, not the actual paucity of the same, which explains the Catholic criticism that Protestants had no or little devotional literature of their own. It is simply the inevitable result of what Protestants believed, or more precisely, of what Protestants did not believe. 38 This phenomenon is represented in the activity of the Protestant editor: when he set out to make a Catholic text appropriate for his audience he often did so by excising and deleting and only rarely by adding or expounding. The Protestant redaction of a Catholic text, like Protestant theology itself, consisted 38I thank Professor Margo Todd for pointing out the different range of material that constituted Protestant devotional literature. 265 of purifying and refining, of removing errors and emphasest hat were inconsistent with a religion that rejected the evolution of tradition and the accumulation of devotions. The Catholic response to this activity was predictable. There was, of course, that particular glee that only comes from the unintentional flattery of one's opponent. What better evidence could Catholics hope for or what more convincing proof of the righteousness of their cause than seeing over and over again the adversary turning to them for their prayers and devotions? `How poor and barren' Robert Persons gloated `these new doctors are of all spiritual doctrine tending to good life, and reformation of manners; seeing they are content to use and pervert our books for some show thereof.... '39 For some Protestants the appropriation of Catholic texts was an embarrassment. One author lamented `Yea, herein they conceive to have so surpassedt heir opposites that they forbear not to reproach them their poverty, weakness and coldness in that kind as being forced to take the Catholic books to supply therein. Which as on this side it cannot be altogether denied to be true. '40 The dilemma for the Protestant editor was of course how to maintain a repugnance for the Catholic religion while at the same time assimilating some of the prayers and devotions that emerged from it. Thomas Rogers, the indefatigable Protestant translator and editor, had found Diego Estella's The contempt of the world and the vanity thereof a book worthy of his attention and industry. 41 Rogers, like some others engaged in adapting Catholic texts for a Protestant 39 Persons, The Christian Directory, sig. * 1'. aoE dwin Sandys, Europee speculum. Or a view or survey of the state of religion in the western parts of the world (London, 1622?) , STC 21718, sig. K4`-` 41G eorge Cotton, trans., The contempt of the world and the vanity thereof (Rouen, 1584), STC 10541. 266 audience, makes no attempt to conceal the book's religious origins. He titles his edition A method unto mortification: called heretofore The contempt of the world... now purused for the benefit of this church, reformed and published by T. Rogers. 42P erhaps Rogers included part of the original title - `called heretofore The contempt of the world' - to advertise that this was the same book which had been circulating since 1584, the title of which might possibly have been familiar to Protestant readers. In any case, he was aware of the criticism which had been heaped upon Protestant editors of Catholic texts - himself included - and he certainly expected that this undertaking would provoke more of the same.4 3 Anticipating the hostile response that was sure to follow, Rogers sets out in his dedication a defence and explanation of a practice that was the source of so much mockery and scorn among Catholics and no little embarrassment for some Protestants: Neither the good Christians may shun this as a serpent, because of the author a papist; nor the papists condemn it as heretical in respect of my self a Protestant. For seeing the ground, subject, and substanceo f the book is such as both of us, yea all thewise of both sides do agree in, namely that the world, and the vanities thereof are to be condemned, me thinks that the circumstances of persons is not to be regarded, as that any sound persuasions unto godliness, and unto the crucifying of ourselves to the world, whosoever do move them, should be despised, especially when such care has been had, as neither anything is added which might either grieve or nusle [?] the papist in superstition, nor anything left out, but would offend the godly Christian if it were still in, nor anything publish, but 42T homas Rogers, A method unto mortification: called heretofor, The contempt of the world... now perused for the benefit of this church, reformed and published by T. Rogers (London 1586), STC 10542. 43F ather Personsc hided him in the 1585 edition of the Resolution. Thomas Rogers, he says, `hath corrupted in English the most excellent work of Thomas de Kempis of the Imitation of Christ, striking out without consciencew hatsoeverh e pleaseth;w hereast he sameb ook before was truly set forth in our native tongue by a Catholic. And other also of the samec ure hath used the like violence unto the holy meditations of S[aint] Augustine and S[aint] Bernard, putting out and in what liked him best, and making those blessedm en speak like Protestants against whom they were most opposite enemies.' STC 193541, sig. b2`-' 267 may like them, whosoever they be, as have grown, and would more and more into a detestation of this world, and the vanities of the same.4 4 In other words, the subject of the book - `crucifying ourselves to the world' - was an area in which Catholics and Protestants could agree and one to which neither group could lay exclusive claim. Papist corruptions were obviously deleted from the text, and no self-respecting Protestant editor would apologise for such a noble exercise: `hath not nature taught the bee out of all flowers to choose those that are meetest to minister the sweet honey and wax and to leave the rest; and shall not grace move Christians to make choice of that which may be to the comfort and profit of the Church of God? '45 No one should be surprised to find as an appendix to Rogers' edition an alphabetical listing of `special errors and noisome sentencesf rom which this books is purged' which include Estella's references to `abstinence,' `active life, ' `adoration, ' `alms, ' `chastity, ' `free will, ' `intercession of saints,' and forty-four other corruptions. 46I ncluded too is a catalogue of `sundry places of scripture which either were vainly applied, or falsely expounded or hermetically wrested to ill purposes, and now by this edition omitted or otherwise reformed A7 and his index of `certain places of Scripture, falsified in the popish edition of this book, and also of things untruly collected from the word of God. '48 Rogers' mood was neither complimentary nor conciliatory: `The filth from which this book is now cleansed I have thrown into this place as into a [si]ck-side. Mine advice is, that you come not unto the viewing thereof with an as Rogers, A method unto mortification, sig A4`-". as Ibid, Sig. A4". 46 Ibid, Sig Y 11r . 47 Ibid, Sig. Z8`. 268 empty stomach, lest the stench either infect, or annoy thee which [be] not used to such contagious savours.' 49 The revisions which Protestant redactors made to Catholic devotional texts could generally be anticipated. Before beginning the exercise the reader can be confident, for example, that any reference to the `Sacrament of the Altar' or the `Sacrifice of the Altar' will be altered to read `Lord's supper,' the `priest' will be transformed into the `minister, ' and the Catholic church will sometimes - not always - be recreated as the `church of Christ' or simply the `church. ' It should be anticipated that `penance' will be rendered ̀ repentance' and expected that `good works' will be replaced by `virtues' or some other term which could not offend against Protestant soteriological sensibilities. Indeed, it would be truly interesting and even startling if those phrases born of traditional Catholic theology were retained in a Protestant edition of the text. To illustrate this point one can examine nearly any Protestant adaptation of a Catholic, Counter-Reformation devotional text. Here we will investigate one of the period's most popular, the Genevan bishop Francis De Sales' An introduction to a devout life. The first English translation of L' introduction a la vie devote appeared in 1613, printed in Douai for John Heigham. The translator, named as I. Y. on the title page, has been identified as the English priest John Yaxley. 50 He attests to the universal appeal of the text when he claims that `no book 48I bid, sig. Z 12`. 49I bid, sig. Y 11 ̀. soA nstruther, Seminary Priests, vol. 2, p. 375. ARCR II, p. 173. In his catalogue of books Gee incorrectly interprets I. Y. to be `J. York, a Jesuit now in London. ' Gee, The foot out of the snare, sig. S V. He has also been incorrectly identified as John Yaworth, O. S.B . See, Elisabeth Stopp, `Healing differences: St Francis de Sales in seventeenth-century England, ' The Month, 38, (1967), p. 56. 269 whatsoever hath been in so short a time so often and in so many places reprinted by so many men, and those of so great judgement, in such variety of books treating of the same subject, so much commended. ' 51 The second English edition appeared in the same year, to be followed by a third in 1614. By 1637 there were six Catholic editions of Yaxley's translation in circulation, but it was not only Catholics who recognised the spiritual value - or the commercial potential - of An introduction. On 12 September 1615 Walter Burr registered to print his edition with the Company of Stationers ̀ after it hath been perused and purged. ' 52 In fact, not much purging was required of the text since the 1616 Protestant edition only occasionally, even rarely, revises the original. Perhaps it was to avoid any misunderstanding of the role of the monarch in the church that the following revision was made in the text: when speaking of bishops De Sales says ̀ their rank and order is supreme among men' 53w hile the licensed version prefers to qualify this: `their rank and order is supreme among spiritual men. ' 54 The book was intended specifically for people living in the world and who were occupied by the requirements of family life and marketplace, a perfect text, in other words, for both Protestants and Catholics. De Sales makes the point that people living in the world cannot be expected to practice their devotion in the same way as consecrated religious who have removed themselves from those distractions and responsibilities 51J ohn Yaxley, trans., An introduction to a devout life (Douai, 1617), STC 11320a, sig. A2'-" 52E . Arber, A transcript of the registers of the Company of Stationers of London (London, 1875), III, p. 263. W. W. Greg, ed., A Companion to Arber: being a calendar of documents in Edward Arber's `Transcript of the registers of the Company of Stationers of London, 1554- 1640, ' with text and calendar of supplementary documents (Oxford, 1967), p. 347. 53J ohn Yaxley, trans., An introduction to a devoute life (Douai, 1617), STC 11320a, sig 9"; and N. Oakes, An introduction to a devoute life (London, 1616), STC 11319, sig. 8". saY axley, An introduction to a devoute life, and Oakes, An introduction to a devoute life, sig. A9`. 270 which lay people experienced daily. The distinction is bound to cause some difficulty for the Protestant editor. The Catholic edition asks, ̀ For I pray thee, would it do well if the Bishop should be solitary like the Carthusian or the married man lay up no more in store for the maintenance of his family than the Capuchin? or that the artificer should be all day in church like the monk: and the monk busy himself in all kinds of occurents for the service of his neighbour as doth the bishop? ' The Protestant editor, who did not acknowledge the legitimacy of hermit, friar, Carthusian or Capuchin, was required to reform the analogies: `For I pray thee, would it do well if the bishop should be solitary like a private student? or the married man should lay up no more in store for the maintenance of his family than a fellow in a college of the university? or the artificer should be so much in the church or busy himself in all such kinds of occurents, for the service of his neighbour as doth the bishop? ' 55 Saints, although not entirely banished from Anglican devotion, were certainly relegated to a marginal position there, and it was unwise for an editor seeking a licence to give them any unnecessaryp rominence. And so they are, predictably enough, transformed from those `faithful servants in former times, ' whom De Sales lists in his fourth chapter, to an anonymous assemblage of those `who subject themselves more perfectly to the will of God. '56 Purification from sin was a spiritual concern that Protestants and Catholics shared. The means of that purification, however, was a source of division, and when encountered in this text, another challenge for the ssY axley, An introduction to a devoute life, sig. 8r-' and Oakes, An introduction to a devoute life, sig. B 12". 271 Protestant redactor. `The first purgation' according to the Catholic text, `which we must minister to our soul is to cleanse and void away the filth of sin: and the means to make this purgation is the holy Sacrament of Penance. For the due receiving thereof, thou must seek out the best confessor that can be found. Then take in hand some little treatise that hath been set forth to help consciences to confess well, as Granada, Bruno, Arias, Augerius or such like. ' But `the first purgation' according to the revised version, `which we must minister to our soul is to cleanse and void away the filth of sin: and the means to make this purgation is repentance or penance. For the due performance whereof, take in hand some little treatise that hath been set forth to help consciences in the confession of sin to God. '57 De Sales closes the ninth chapter with the prayer `0 my God strengthen me in these affections and resolutions. 0 holy Virgin Mother of our Lord, commend them by thy blessed intercession unto thy merciful Son together with all those for whom I ought to pray. Pater. Ave. Credo. ' Since Protestant theology will not accommodate the intercession of the saints or the existence of purgatory, this example of Protestant piety cannot tolerate the inclusion of the Virgin Mary, or `those for whom I ought to pray' in case these latter actually be dead. No one should be surprised, therefore, to read instead an abbreviated oration: `0 my God strengthen me in these affections and resolutions, Our Father, &c.. 58 An introduction to a devout life enjoyed an enduring successa mong Catholics and Protestants, but not without controversy. Nearly twenty years 56Y axley, An introduction to a devoute life, sig. B 10" and Oakes, An introduction to a devoute life (London, 1616), sig., C3`-" 57Y axley, An introduction to a devoute life, sig. C4'- v and Oakes, An introduction to a devoute life, sig. CIO'-v. 272 after the publication of the first Protestant edition, the printer Nicholas Oakes presented the text again to ecclesiastical authorities for their scrutiny and approval. As a matter of course the book was examined by William Haywood, secretary to the Archbishop of Canterbury, and was `in sundry places expunged and purged of divers passagest herein tending to popery. ' But according to `A proclamation for calling in a book, entitled An Introduction to a Devout Life, and that the same be publicly burnt' when the book went to be printed it had been ̀ corrupted and falsified by the translator and stationer who between them inserted again the same popish and unsound passages'. 5 9 What is interesting about the revision of An introduction to a devout life is not what the Protestant editor took out: it was, after all, the duty of the Protestant editor to cleanse the text of popish errors. Rather, what is interesting and what tells us more about the religious environment of sixteenth and seventeenth century England, and the contribution of Catholic devotional literature to that environment, is what the editor left in, what Catholics and Protestant shared, in what united - unconsciously and certainly unintentionally - two religious communities who have always been described as divided. One uniting factor - perhaps even the greatest - of these divided communities is found in the unlikely figure of the Spanish Dominican Luis de Granada. Although Protestant adaptations of Granada represented a much wider phenomenon in sixteenth century devotional literature, the example of Granada is, however, not typical of the Catholic author assimilated by the Protestant press. In fact it represents the extreme: no other Catholic author 58Y axley, An introduction to a devoute life, sig. C 11 ̀ and Oakes, An introduction to a devoute life, sig. D9'. 273 was reprinted more frequently by the established press than he. But by examining the extreme, we can see the extent to which non-Catholics were willing to incorporate Catholicism - though they would never have admitted as much - into their religious and spiritual lives. When one considers the works of Granada and ponders the popularity of his books and those of other translated authors one does well to remember that the popularity of a book - then as now - is usually due to many factors: content, promotion, style or artistic quality all conspire to contribute to a book's impact. Devotional literature was no exception, and in the case of Granada style as well as religious content account for the appeal he held for the English reader. John Underhill explains: In England, where affectation in style becomes so common in the last quarter of the century [his style] procured for him a unique welcome. His reputation rose with that of Lyly, and was based upon the same fundamental grounds Lyly became the leader of a fashion, .... and Granada the most popular peninsular author translated during the closing reign of Elizabeth. One was animated by a strong moral sense,t he other by religious ecstasy but the pre-eminent vogue of both was due to the cultivation of an exaggerated style.6 0 And Granada's appeal is revealed by a contemporary observer as well, Bernado de Fresnada who wrote the preface to the Spanish edition of Of prayer and meditation: Because the author understood right well how far the mouths of men nowadays are out of taste, and how much they are more affectionate unto the fleshpots of Egypt, than to the breath of Angels, I mean hereby, rather to the rewarding of profane books, by reason of the pleasant style wherewith they think they are written, than to the books of spiritual doctrine, which are 59B y the King. A proclamation for calling in a book, An introduction to a devoute life (London, 1637), STC 9087. 60J ohn Underhill, Spanish Literature in the England of the Tutors (New York, 1899), p. 207. 274 commonly written with more simplicity, he hath therefore dressed this meat in such wise, and hath written this doctrine in such a sweet and pleasant style, that it may provide an appetite to this book, even if such persons as do otherwise loathe good and wholesome food: besides, that the very matters themselves are exceedingly well chosen, and of great profit. 61 Granada's most popular work appeared in 1582 from the Parisian press of Thomas Brumen: Of prayer and meditation. Wherein are contained fourteen devout meditations for the seven days of the week, both for the mornin ,s ga nd evenings. And in them is treated of the consideration of the principal holy Mysteries of our faith translated by the recusant Richard Hopkins. 62 Two Protestant adaptations appeared in 1598 which, remarkably, include his name in the title: Granados devotion. Exactly teaching how a man may dedicate himself unto God63a nd Granados spiritual and heavenly exercises.6 4 A third work delivered from the Protestant press of James Roberts in 1601 was The flowers of Lodowicke of Granado.6 5 This is intriguing: was Granada so well- known in Elizabethan England that he can be compared with the successful modem author whose name appears above, and in much larger type, than the book's title? Can one really believe that the name `Granada' was so well- recognised and held such appeal for English book-buyers that English book- printers made certain that it was the first word to appear in the title page? We can only conclude that it must have been. Between 1592-1634 there were twenty editions of Granada's various works available to the Protestant book- 61R ichard Hopkins, trans., Of prayer and meditation. Wherein are contained fourteen devout meditations (Paris, 1582), STC 16907, sig. bvii`-v. 62Ibid. 63F . Meres, trans., Granadosd evotion. Exactly teaching how a man may dedicate himself unto God (London, 1598), STC 16902. 64F . Meres, trans., Granadoss piritual and heavenly exercises( London, 1598), STC 16920. 65T . Lodge, trans., The flowers of Lodowicke of Granado (London, 1601), STC 16901. 275 buyer, a number which would indicate at least some degree of notoriety for the author, if not even renown. 66 As interesting as the appearanceo f Granada's name in the title may be, there are even more intriguing questions to be asked. Although some of the early Protestant editions of Granada's works did not include his name, and those that did identified the author as T. L. Granada' or as something equally vague,6 7c ould the Protestant editor really hope to conceal the Catholic origins of the text? Did Francis Meres or the other Protestant editors of Granada assume that the buying public would believe that the author was one of the Protestant divines who, after 1580 at least, were producing in ever-greater numbers their own works of devotion? Probably not. If the editor's intent was to deceive the reading public he would never have included such an exotic, un- English name as ̀ de Granada' on the title page. By doing so he at least advertised that the author was a citizen of England's most loathed enemy and that bastion of Catholicism, Spain. One must conclude, then, that no attempts were made to utterly conceal the Catholic origins of the text - but no efforts were made to divulge them either. 68 The reader of Granada was certainly aware that the author was a papist, but like other editors of Catholic texts, the Protestant redactor of Granada's works made certain that there was no evidence of this in the text itself. 66G ranada's own bibliography is impressive enough. In 1554 he published the first version of his Book of Prayer and Meditation. This was followed in 1556 by his first edition of A sinner's wide. (In 1559 both of these works were placed on the Index of the Inquisition. ) The Memorial of a Christian life first appeared in 1566 followed by the revised edition of A sinner's guide in 1567. In 1574 he published Additions to Memorial of a Christian life; and in 1582 he had printed the first four volumes of Introduction to the symbol of faith and the final volume of that work in 1585, three years before in death in Lisbon. Granada went to Portugal around 1555, where he became Provincial of the Dominicans in 1556. See John A. Moore, Fray Luis De Granada (Boston, 1977), pp. 11-12. 67A s STC 16914 does: F. L. Granada's meditations (London, 1623). 276 Granada was translated, or to use a contemporary expression `Englished, ' by the recusant Richard Hopkins, making him available to those English men and women who desired to intensify their devotional lives. 69 The Protestant editors went one step further; they `Anglicised' Granada, thus making him accessible to not only to an English audience, but to a Protestant one as well. The first, and perhaps easiest step, in transforming a popish text was to remove - or rather not include - the visual symbols of superstition and idolatry which had corrupted the purity of the Gospel messagef or centuries. Corruptions and errors were to be found before the text even began. True, decorative features were not completely abandoned and even some of a religious nature could be incorporated in a Protestant imprint, but the symbols of papistry which often adorned Catholic texts could never be tolerated. To determine the religious affiliation of a devotional text it is often only necessary to glance at the title page. The 1582 edition of Prayer and Meditation exhibits at once its Catholicity. The woodcut on the title page portrays Christ carrying his cross, followed by faithful disciples who bear their own in imitation of the Master. This pious scene would hardly be offensive to Protestant sympathies, nor would the biblical passagesw hich accompany it. 70U pon closer examination, however, the reader will notice that the two most prominent disciples are attired in religious habits, one a nun, the other a monk, and that everyone in the procession of crosses is wearing a set of rosary beads on his or her waist. (Figure 6.1) Moreover, the author is described in the title in 68S ee Chapter 3 for the popularity of translated works among English book buyers. 69H opkins dedicated his translation of On Prayer and meditation to the Gentlemen of the Four Inns of court, one of the foundations of the Protestante stablishment. He certainly hoped that Protestantsw ould benefit from his efforts. 70L uke 9:2 3 and 1 John 2: 6. Figure 6.1 This was a popular text arnong Protestants and Catholics. This friar illustrated edition with nun on the and title page, is easily recognisable as a Catholic edition. 277 glowing and obviously Catholic terms: `Written first in the Spanish tongue by the famous religious father F. Lewis de Granada, Provincial of the holy order of preachers in the Province of Portugal. ' Finally, the imprint may also provide a clue. The book did not come from one of the established London printing houses, nor did it undergo the scrutiny of an archbishop's secretary or receive a licence from the Company of Stationers. That the book was `Imprinted at Paris by Thomas Brumeau [sic], at the sign of the Olive' should have informed the reader of its papist character.7 ' Likewise, the engraved title page of the 1612 edition, printed at Douai by Pierre Auroi, could never have been mistaken for a licensed copy, not with two tonsured saints standing at either side of the title, and certainly not with that most reliable badge of Catholic orthodoxy, the telltale and ubiquitous IHS. 72 The Protestant versions are just as telling, if only for their lack of traditionally Catholic symbols. Although the 1599 edition from the shop of Peter Short contains a woodcut opposite the title page depicting the annunciation, such a scene was certainly within the limits of acceptable Protestant iconography. 73 This edition and the 1596 version printed by James Roberts (which one will recall had been ̀ Written first in the Spanish tongue by the famous and religious father F. Lewis de Granada') reduces the attribution to `written by F. Lewis de Granada' avoiding references to Spain, " Hopkins, Of prayer and meditation (Paris, 1582), STC 16907, sig. air. 72 Hopkins, Of prayer and meditation (Douai, 1612), STC 16908.5 73H opkins, Of prayer and meditation (England, secret press, 1598), STC 16910. 278 Portugal and the Dominicans. 74 By 1623 the author's name is reduced even further to T. L. de Granada'. 75 It is the contention of this chapter that the Catholic press produced a corpus of devotional material that was easily assimilated by the spirituality of English Protestantism. Editors were on the lookout for devotional works that could be corrected and revised, not tomes that required rewriting or even extensive corrections. Granada's works suited those editors perfectly. All of the editions of Of prayer and meditation, both Catholic and Protestant - were based on the translation by Richard Hopkins. For the most part, the revisions in the text are predictable enough and reflect what appears to be the common practice of Protestant editors: to correct the original as little as possible and to make only those changest hat are required by Protestant orthodoxy. Consider the following revision: Catholic text: `Wherefore this our most sweet Bridegroom, when he minded to depart out of this life, and to absent himself from the Catholic Church his dear spouse (to the intent that this his absence might not be any occasion unto her to forget him) he left unto her, for a remembrance, this most blessed Sacrament, wherein he himself would remain. 76 Protestant version: `Our most sweet Bridegroom, when he minded to depart out of this life, and to absent himself from his Church, his dear Spouse: (to the intent that this his absence, might not be any occasion unto her to forget him) he left unto her for a remembrance this most excellent sacrament. Wherein he himself would remain spiritually. 77 74H opkins, Of prayer and meditation (England, secretp ress, 1596), STC 16909.5 and (London, 1598) 16910. 75G ranada's meditations (London, 1623) STC 16913. 76H opkins, Of prayer and meditation (Paris, 1582)STC 16907, sig. Fiii'. 77G ranada's meditations (London, 1634), STC 16915, sig. W. 279 It comes as no surprise that the bridegroom who is `really' present in the sacrament described in the Catholic edition is `spiritually present' in the sacrament depicted in the Protestant version. In this text and the one that follows the reader notices two things: first, that there is a slight adjustment to the passagem ade to accommodate Protestant sacramental theology and piety ('Blessed sacrament' had a unique association with the adored consecrated host in Catholic devotion), second, - and what is truly striking - there is considerable, even essential, agreement between the texts. Of course Protestant and Catholics disagreed about a certain aspect - indeed a fundamental one - concerning the Eucharist, but they agreed on others: Christ left the Eucharist to his church as a remembrance of himself, and in the Eucharist he would be always present to the same church. An examination of another brief text and minor revision will highlight this notion of a shared religious devotion: Catholic text: `but our most loving and sweet saviour Christ, far passing any mother in love, perceiving thee to be ready to perish and die for hunger, and feign withal, that there was none other better mean[s] to maintain thy life than to give thee his own very flesh to eat.' 78 Protestant version: `But our most loving and sweet saviour Christ, passing any mother in love, perceiving us to be ready to perish and die for hunger, and seeing withal that there was none other way to maintain our lives, than to give his own life for ours and his flesh for ours. ' 79 The Catholic reader could never have been offended by the Protestant redaction of the text: there was no heresy contained in it, no disrespect for the 78H opkins, Of prayer and meditation (Paris, 1582), STC 16907, sig. Fvii'. 79G ranada's meditations (London, 1634), STC 16915, sig. Y2`-". 280 sacrament, no mockery of Catholic theology or Eucharistic devotion. Indeed, the Protestant version may be considered to be a devotionally richer text than the original edition. The Protestant revision had Christ give both his life and his flesh for us, while in the Catholic version he gives only the flesh, but that to be consumed. There are several considerations to be made here: first, this was an altered text, a portion of the book which the Protestant editor believed was necessaryt o revise. Second, although the revision was a manifestation of Protestant theology, and therefore of the deep divide that existed between Catholics and Protestants, in itself it was rather minor, indeed an omission of only a few words. Third, this omission and the minor modifications did not make the revised version a Protestant text simply becauset he redactor was a Protestant. What, after all, is particularly Protestant about the modified text? The original Catholic version was offensive to Protestant sympathies, but the revised text expressed a theology and a piety that was acceptable to Catholics and Protestants alike. Not all Protestant revisions were as confessionally neutral as this example: references to the `Lord's supper' or the `minister' were blatant signals that a Protestant editor had been at work. Editors made frequent references to their `correcting' or `purging' of the corrupted Catholic editions. As predictable and obvious as most of the revisions were, some changes were made to the Catholic text which were motivated, it seems, by nothing more than the whim of the editor. The 1582 edition of Hopkins' translation of Of prayer and meditation offers the reader a set of fourteen meditations, seven for the mornings of the week and seven for the evenings. The 1596 version edited by `Mr Banister son of J. Banister' reproduces the same meditations, but re- 281 arranges their order, placing the morning meditations of the Catholic edition in the evening, and the evening meditations in the morning. The motivation for this re-arrangement is entirely unclear. Originally, the morning meditations were concerned with Christ's passion and had the reader contemplate the various stages of Jesus' suffering. Meditations included `Upon the prayer of our saviour in the garden and upon his apprehension;' `How our saviour was crowned with thorns; ' and `upon the mystery of the Cross and upon the seven words. ' Why Mr Banister regarded these meditations more suitable for the evening is a mystery, nor is it apparent why meditations on one's own life, and on life and death in general, are more appropriate for the morning: `Consideration of the sins of thy former life; ' `Of the miseries of this life; ' `Of the pains of hell; ' and `of the everlasting glory and felicity of the kingdom of heaven.' The bibliographer A. C. Southern argued that the Protestant editor reversed the sequenceo f meditations `to conceal as far as possible that connection between his work and that of Hopkins. ' 80 This cannot be correct. First, anyone familiar with Hopkins' text would have noticed immediately the Protestant editor's near word-for-word reliance on it. Second, anyone unfamiliar with Hopkins' translation would, obviously, have no reason to suspect that the editor depended upon anyone's earlier translation. The reversal of the meditations simply could not camouflage the text as anything other than the translation by Richard Hopkins. After the Protestant editor had completed his task and made the required adjustments to the text, what is the reader left with? Or another way 282 to phrase this question, what did the Catholic text and the Protestant text have in common? Or the yet more interesting question, what did both Protestants and Catholics look for in books that were designed to nurture faith and godliness? What type of material was fostering devotion in England, for both Protestants and Cathölics? The answer to these questions will not reveal a type of devotion to the `lowest common denominator' for there is nothing slight or minimal about what was shared in this regard by Catholics and Protestants. There were, of course, vast differences in the devotional lives of English Catholics and Protestants, but the gap between Protestant and Catholic expressions of devotion, a gap created by the restrictive nature of Protestant theology - sola scriptura and sola fide - was significantly narrowed by the literature to which both groups could turn for edification and enlightenment. Luis de Granada indicated in the preface of Of prayer and meditation that `the principal matter of this book is of meditation and consideration of things appertaining to Almighty God and of the principal mysteries of the Catholic faith. ' 81T he things appertaining to God and the mysteries of the Catholic faith -a term which was more and more being appropriated by less radical Protestants - provided devotional material which was at once spiritually rich and confessionally neutral. There was, therefore, nothing particularly disloyal about appropriating the bowdlerised Catholic texts; they advanced neither Spain nor Pope. It was precisely their non- political, even their non-theological character which recommended them to religious adversaries. 80S outhern, Elizabethan Recusant Prose, p. 206 g' Hopkins, Of prayer and meditation (Paris, 1582), STC 16907, sig. A5.` 283 The theological hair-splitting which occupied church leaders and theologians, the weighty considerations of merit and justification, and the more mundane issues of vestments and decorations, did not engage the imagination or spiritual aspirations of the Christian reader. He and she sought practical advice for the daily living-out of the Gospel and looked for meditations that would draw their minds to the heavenly mysteries above rather than the heated bickerings below. Piety removed from politics: this essential quality guaranteed that books like Granada's would be successful in both religious camps. Granada's popularity among English Protestants is striking to the modern observer who can barely comprehend the promotion of religious material which was the product of England's most hated and feared enemy, Spain. But the study of English Counter-Reformation devotional literature is replete with surprises, and that an Iberian Dominican should prove to be so popular is hardly remarkable, scarcely worth notice even, when one considers the immense popularity and literary successo f another book. The first book of the Christian exercise, appertaining to resolution was according to Helen White `the most popular book of spiritual guidance in sixteenth-century England'82 and Victor Houliston calls it `one of the most influential prose works of Elizabeth's reign. '83 It was not a translation, but it was nonetheless a Catholic text adopted by English Protestantism. This was, as we have seen, a relatively common event born of a reasonable and pragmatic approach to devotional material: if it promoted piety and not 82W hite, Tudor Books of Saints and Mar rs, p. 205. 284 papistry, it could and should be adapted to suit a Protestant readership. What is remarkable, even astonishing, is that this text which proved so popular among English readers was not composed simply by a Catholic, but by a Jesuit, and not by any Jesuit but by the most despised of all Jesuits, ̀ whom all the realm, prince and Peers with all true English hearts have cause to curse, hate, and spit at, '84t he Englishman Robert Persons.8 5 It has already been observed in Chapter 5 that Father Persons made a vast contribution to the literary campaign of the mission to England. This was achieved first by the establishment of the three short-lived pressesi n England, as well as the printing house in Rouen and the press connected to the English College in St Omer. Persons' association with these pressesw as well known to the government in England, but he certainly received his reputation as a result of his second great contribution to the campaign: his books.8 6 As was noted in Chapter 4, Father Persons was a polemicist and The first book of the Christian exercise, appertaining to resolution was his only attempt at a devotional work. It was in a sensea new venture, and certainly a new genre, but it cannot be regarded as a departure from his principal aim of winning souls back to the Catholic church. The Resolution was not a retreat, nor was it a relaxation of his primary objective of returning England to Roman 83V ictor Houliston, `Why Robert Personsw ould not be pacified: Edmund Bunny's theft of the Book of Resolution', in The Reckoned Expense:E dmund Campion and the Early English Jesuits, Thomas McCoog, S.J ., ed. (Woodbridge, 1996), p. 159 84J ames,T he Jesuits' downfall, threateneda gainst them by the secular priests, sig. H4r. 85S ee Francis Edwards, S.J . Robert Persons:t he biography of an English Jesuit, 1546-1610 (St Louis, no date). 86I t was a contribution not, however, appreciatedb y everyone. When Father Personsh ad settled in Rouen and was probably supervising the production of The Resolution, the Spanish ambassadorD on Bernadino de Mendoza wrote to Father Personsc omplaining `it was not time to be occupied in writing books when it was a question of the salvation of kingdoms.' J. H. Pollen, `Father Persons' memoirs,' in Catholic Record Society Miscellanea IV, Catholic Record Society, IV (London, 1907), p. 57. 285 obedience. The book was in every way aligned with what Persons had written before and would write in the future. The urgency with which he penned his most vitriolic polemics was no less apparent here in The Resolution. The reader had to make up his or her mind, needed to be resolved in his or her dedication to God. Persons was not one to tolerate temporising, nor would his book. This was after all not a treatise on the rosary or a pious reflection on the life of Christ but a call, if not to greater devotion, then to greater fidelity and resolution. One should not expect that Persons would have been likely or even capable of distancing himself from the fray even for the briefest period. He may not have been entirely comfortable with the medium, but he certainly recognised its appeal and effectiveness and was therefore willing to adapt himself to this unfamiliar style of writing. Persons' bibliography reveals a tireless controversialist and it was his participation in the war of words with Protestant apologists that won him his infamy in England. For the Protestant divine Thomas James, Persons was the `absolute Jesuit. ' 87M atthew Sutcliffe knew of him as ̀ an apostate sometime from religion, and now an utter enemy of the state, a renegade Englishman for hatred to the truth and love to Popery,' 88 who with his associates ̀by all means sought to set England in combustion, that they might triumph in the ashes, and sing masses in the funerals of their native country. ' 89 Like all other Jesuits he was known as a master of cunning and deceit who `would make us believe that both the Pope and the Spaniards are our good friends. Where Jesuits and 87T homas James, The Jesuits' downfall, threatened against them by the secular priests (Oxford, 1612), STC 14459, sig G1'. 88M atthew Sutcliffe, The blessings on Mount Gerizzim, and the curses on Mount Ebal. Or the happy estate of Protestants compared with the miserable estate of papists under the Pope's tyranny (London, 1625?) , STC 23466, sig. A3`. 286 Mass-priests and malcontent Papists were brewing of sedition and preparing themselves to join with foreign forces: this good fellow would make us believe that traitors are good friends. ' 90 Persons died in 1610, but his reputation was still very much alive and his insidious influence still to be feared years after his death. Evidence of this exists in the production of The Jesuits' downfall, threatened against them by the secular priests. together with the life of Father Parsons. Persons is described in the most unflattering terms: the unfaithfulest, prowdest, busiest and underminingest man that lives, a lewder person than whom is not: most exorbitant, and discomposed, a sacrilegious bastard, and bastardly runnagate busyheaded, ... a most diabolical, unnatural, and barbarous butcherly fellow, exceeding bold, and of great undertaking, an impudent calumnator, a most scurrilous traitor... violator of all laws, condemner of all authority, naked of all honesty, wisdom or judgement, monopoly of all mischief, a stain of humanity, and impostume of all corruption, a corrupter of all honesty, exlegal legifer [?] , very peremptory, sly, and saucy, impudent, falshearted Cataline...a n hispanized cameleon, like a Proteus, wretched seed of Cain, and son of Belial, monster of mankind, worthy of the name of a beast or a devil, fitter for hell than for earth, and Antesignan or immediate fore-runner of the Antichrsite. 91 In a typical polemical gesture of the time, the reader was made aware of Persons' unseemly character which existed from his very birth. There could, after all, be nothing honest or legitimate in one who was known to have called for the assassination of the Queen and the invasion of the country. It would have come as no surprise to learn from his `biographer' that he was `born of mean parentage, infamous from the time that he was first born, unhonestly 89I bid, sig. A5". 90I bid, sig. A6 r. 91J ames, The Jesuits' downfall, sig. G11- " 287 begot, and basely born upon the body of a very base queen; his supposed father of gentry not better than a blacksmith, his right father indeed the parish Priest. '92 With such a base beginning treason and treachery could have been expected. The irony is immediately apparent. One of the most hated men in England proved to be one of its most successful authors. And the irony is complete when one considers that it was a religious book which held such appeal for the English people. Robert Persons was, after all, considered to be a hater of true religion, an enemy of devotion, a defiler of all that was good and holy. How was it possible that such a man could produce such a book? Or what is more, how was it possible that this text was able to move so many Protestants to devotion? It was an issue that could not be ignored. The history of the The Resolution and the controversy that enveloped it is well recorded, and only a brief outline is given here in order to understand the debate that was to surround The Resolution as well as its impact on English devotional life. 93 Father Persons had intended to write three books on the `Christian exercise.' The first, `appertaining to resolution, ' deals with the `principal reasons that ought to move a man to this resolution, ' and eliminates any of the reasons or excuses that a reader may provide against performing this resolution. The second and third books of the trilogy were never written. Had they been, they would have moved the reader beyond the idea of resolution, - understanding why it is necessary - to actually beginning and maintaining a life which was resolved on following God rather than sin. The third book, had it 92I bid, sig. G2". 93S ee Southern, Elizabethan RecusantP rose, pp. 182-189. 288 ever been completed, which was to `entreat of all the kind of prayer, both mental and vocal' and `shall declare the ways and means how (by help of God's grace) we may resist and overcome all sorts of sin, and the temptation thereof would have more closely corresponded with The exercise of a Christian life by the Jesuit Gaspare Loarte. 94 This is all recorded in the address to the reader in the first edition which appeared in 1582 and which has led to considerable confusion among modern scholars as to the purpose of the book as well as its sources. Indeed, some of that attention has contributed to the ongoing confusion regarding the origins and influences on text. Ceri Sullivan finds the origin of the Directory (which the book was later to be called) in that moment `when Persons began to translate Loarte's exercises,' something he never even attempted to do.9 5 Even Helen White has made the error of referring to the Directory as ̀ a translation of a famous Italian devotional book, The Exercise of a Christian Life. ' 96 A. C. Southern says that it `may best be described as a free adaptation of its Italian original' Loarte's Exercise.9 7 In fact, there is virtually no overlap between the texts and they hardly resemble each other. The confusion is easily understood for two reasons. First, Persons refers to Brinkley's translation in his advertisement to the reader, and second the use of the word `exercise' which appears in both titles - when coupled with Persons' reference to the earlier work - make for an easy error. 94 Persons, The first book of the Christian exercise appertaining to resolution (Rouen, 1582), sig. Al". 95C eri Sullivan, Dismembered Rhetoric (Cranbury, NJ, 1995), p. 27. 96W hite, English Devotional Literature 1600-1640, p. 144 and `Some continuing traditions in English Devotional Literature, ' Publications of the Modern Language Association of America, 57, (1942), pp. 978-979, and Tudor Books of Private Devotion, p. 170. 97S outhern, Elizabethan RecusantP rose,p . 186. 289 Textual analysis is not required to recognise the limited degree that Loarte's text influenced Persons'. Southern is closer to the mark when he says that The Book of Resolution owes its inception to the treatise which Stephen Brinkley had recently translated and published. Indeed, after having seen Brinkley's translation, Persons tells his reader that it had been his intention to re-issue the book, adding `certain matters and treatises unto the same.' After pondering what those matters would be, though, he realised that an entirely different text would be required to accommodate them: When I had set down another order & method to myself than that book followeth: and had begun this first book of resolution: whereof no part is handled in that treatise I found by experience that I could not well join that with this to satisfy either the order or argument by me conceived, and therefore was I enforced to resolve upon a further labour than at the first I intended, which was to draw out the whole three books myself, not omitting anything that is in the said Exercise or other like books, to this effect, which thing by God's holy assistanceI mean to do as time, health and liberty shall permit me.9 8 A near-contemporary account and description of the book is provided by the Jesuit Henry More: This book dealeth with the principles of Christian faith, with God, with Christ as man, and on the rewards and punishments on good and evil deeds after this life. What made for goodness and how the obstacles thereto might be removed, was clearly demonstrated in an appropriate style calculated to persuade. It is not easy to describe the eagernessw ith which it was received, the spiritual profit with which it was devoured, and even to this day [ 1660] how much it had been read by every sort of person of both sexes...A lthough it is only here and there that it touches on very few questions that are controversial, he shows in the clearest possible light which Christian life ought to be Indeed, if Persons had done nothing else in his whole life, by ... this one work he would have earned immortality from his countrymen, 98P ersons,T he first book of the Christian exercise, sig, A2r. 290 and the reputation of a man who did more by his singlehanded labour than a whole company.9 9 Father Persons began to write `or at least projected' The Resolution, ' 00 when he was still in England but shortly before he was to flee to France. It was printed in Rouen in 1582 at the press of George L'Oyselet. The book sold out immediately, and it was not long after that Persons caused another edition to be printed: `I perceived many months before that all the first copies of the said former book (though not so well done as justly I might have wished) were wholly dispersed and none remaining to be had. ' 10' The first reprint was an unauthorised Catholic edition in 1584, to be followed a year later by Persons' own corrected and greatly augmented edition with the title: A Christian directory, guiding men to their salvation, commonly called the Resolution ...w ith reproof of the corrupt and falsified edition of the same book lately published by M. Edm. Bunny. Father Persons renamed the book to reflect its now greatly-enhanced character, but almost certainly, as well, to distinguish his work from yet another version of the text which appeared in 1584. In the preface of his newly corrected and augmented edition of 1585, he explains the situation: I was informed of two other editions come forth of my foresaid book without my knowledge, the one by a Catholic (as it seemeth) who perceiving all copies of the former print to be spent; for satisfying of them that desired the book, procured the same to be set forth again, albeit somewhat incorrected, and very disorderly, not having the consent or advice of such as therein should have given him best direction. The second was 99F rancis Edwards, ed., The Elizabethan Jesuits: `Historia Anglicanae Societatis Jesu' (1660) of Henry More (London, 1981), p. 140. 100T he book came to be known as The Resolution. The title of the 1620 edition was The Christian directory... commonly called the Resolution (St Omer), STC 19354.6. 101P ersons, A Christian directory guiding all men to their salvation (Rouen, 1585), STC 193 sig. a3'. 291 published by one Edmund Bunny minister at Bolton Percy (as he writeth) in the liberties of York... but yet so punished and plumed, (which he termeth purged; ) as I could hardly by the face discern it for mine, when it came unto my hands, and I took no small compassion to see how pitifully the poor thing had been handled. 102 Even this brief departure into pious literature could not keep Persons away from the religious controversy of his day. The history of the books took a dramatic turn when Edmund Bunny `perused' it and produced his corrected and authorised edition of the text. Or rather the turn was taken when Bunny's revision was noticed by Father Persons who responded in typical fashion, with eloquence and fury. The Resolution was circulating among Protestants shortly after its printing and if Father Persons was aware of this, he would have been pleased, for the book was intended for the eyes of all English men and women, not only Catholics. It was, after all, designed to be a mechanism for conversion, and it could only succeed as such if those in need of conversion read it. His `Address to the Christian Reader' makes clear this intention: Wherefore (gentle reader) if thou be of another religion than I am, I beseecht hee most heartily, that laying aside all hatred, malice, and wrathful contention, let us join together in amendment of our lives, and praying for one another: and God (no doubt) will not suffer us to perish finally for want of right faith. And to Catholics I must say further with S. Paul and S. James, that all their faith will profit them nothing, except they have charity also, both towards God and man, and thereby do direct their lives accordingly. Which God of his holy mercy gives them grace to do, to his honour and their eternal salvation. And I must humbly request the (good Christian reader) to pray for me also, (of thou take any commodity by this book) that I be not like the conduit pipe which bringeth water to the city, without drinking any itself, or as S. Paul with much 102I bid, sig. a4'-5`. 292 less cause than I have, feared of himself, to wit, lest that after preaching to other[s], I become perchance reprobate Myself. 103 Edmund Bunny, minister of Bolton-Percy in the Archdiocese of York was one of the Protestants who read the book. It came to him first by a friend of mine, and after by mine own experience, I perceived that the book ensuing was willingly read by divers, for the persuasion that it hath to godliness of life, which notwithstanding in many points was corruptly set down: I thought good in the end to get the same published again in some better manner than now it is come forth among them; that so the good, that the reading thereof might otherwise do, might carry no hurt or danger withal, so far as by me might be prevented. 104 Father Persons' reaction was predictable. A more benevolent author might have been pleased that Protestants were gaining some profit by the text - even one corrected by a Protestant minister. It was, after all, essentially the same text when Bunny was finished editing it. 105I ndeed, a more benevolent author might even have been flattered that the bitter foe had chosen his work to nourish a population who not only hungered for proper piety, but who were starved of it. Persons was not flattered. He was furious: `found I the book so much altered and mangled, both in words, phrase sense,s entencea nd substance, as scarcely could I know it to be mine. ' 106 103P ersons, The first book of the Christian exercise, sig. B2"-B3`. 104E . Bunny, A book of Christian exercise, appertaining to resolution, that is showing how that we should resolve ourselves to become Christians in deed: by R. P. perused, and accompanied now with a treatise tending towards Pacification: by Edm. Buny (London, 1584), STC 19355, sig. *2`. 105B rad Gregory estimates that up to ninety percent of the text remained untouched. `The "true and zealous service of God": Robert Persons, Edmund Bunny, and The First Book of the Christian Exercise', Journal of Ecclesiastical History, 45 (1994), p. 253. 106P ersons,T he Christian directory....L ately reviewed, corrected and not a little altered by the author himself (St Omer, 1607), STC 19354.5, sig. * 1". 293 Over forty years ago Robert McNulty undertook the task of comparing Person's original version with Bunny's redaction of the text. 107M ore recently, Brad Gregory has performed the same exercise, emphasising the similarities present in both texts and the harmony of thought that, he concludes, existed between Persons and Bunny. 108B ut the earliest literary-critical exercise was performed by Persons himself, when he included in the preface of his 1607 edition of The Christian Directory `The abuseso f M. Buney's [sic] Edition. ' One can barely imagine how much Bunny's edition annoyed Persons. The ideas and words were his, designed chiefly to combat - with proper devotion and `resolution' - the insidious heresy which threatened to annihilate Catholicism in England. He saw before him now the same words and ideas altered and adjusted to conform to the minds and inclinations of heretics. Bunny, of course, did not realise who the anonymous R. P. was. Had he known the identity of the author he might have looked for another pious text to purge and correct. But it was too late to avoid the wrath of the irascible Jesuit. Unwittingly, Bunny had engaged one who would become - it was still relatively early in Persons' literary career - one of the most talented and eloquent controversialists of the Counter-Reformation. The Jesuit responded in the medium in which he excelled, in a flurry of fulmination. The damage which Bunny caused was not abstract nor theoretical; it was personal. He had 107R obert McNulty, Robert Persons' `The first book of Christian Exercise'. An edition and Study. (New York, 1956) and `The "Protestant Version" of Robert Parsons' The First Book of the Christian Exercise, ' Huntington Library Quarterly 22 (1959), pp. 271-300. 108G regory `The "True and zealous service of God", ' pp. 238-268. Victor Houliston disagrees with Gregory's conclusion: `Gregory imagines that becauseB unny implicitly endorsed so much of what Personsw rote, the two authors are virtually interchangeable. Hence such misleading phrasesa s "Parson's and Bunny's use of language" and "Parson's and Bunny's diatribe against the `world'. " Bunny was not the co-author of the passagesh e reproduced, nor were these passagesw ritten by some ideological component of Person's brain in which Bunny might be said to have participated.' Houliston, p. 160. 294 committed the unforgivable offence against Persons himself: `he maketh me speak after the phrase of Protestants' and `He frameth ever[y] man's speech (where he can) to such a style, as though he had been trained up in Luther's or John Calvin's school, and in this he hath no scruple in falsifying. ' 109 Although the offence was, according to Persons, particularly grave, there was nothing unusual about Bunny's editorial technique. He modified the text when it could be easily accommodated, or he simply deleted the sections which could not be. `Generally, ' Persons complained wheresoever he findeth mention of certain things that please him not; as of abstinence, fasting, chastising the body, penance, satisfaction, virginity, merit..., gaining of heaven, labouring for reward, or the like, he commonly striketh all out, together with the authors that treat thereof, or else so mangled the same, as their sensei s nor more to be seen, though he suffers the places to remain. And this you may call, sorting and suiting of words and phrases to his liking. But then further, when any authority offereth itself or cometh in his way which he cannot so well accommodate by this means of sorting and suiting, out it goeth without redemption, be it Father, Doctor, Council, or Scripture itself. 110 The motivation behind the Resolution was to move the reader to commit his or her life to the service of God. For Robert Persons, the missionary Jesuit, that service could only be properly accomplished within the Catholic communion and, in the English context, it certainly required recusancy. Nothing for Persons was more obvious. Edmund Bunny, the Protestant minister, had entirely missed that point - or completely ignored it. By correcting the book for a Protestant audience, Bunny did more than remove '09P ersons,T he Christian directory....L ately reviewed, corrected and not a little altered by the author himself (St Omer, 1607), STC 19354.5, sig. *2'. 110I bid. 295 the more blatant references to Catholic practices and beliefs - penance, purgatory, merit - he also excised the fundamental aspects of the book: how one achieves this resolution, and how one carries it forward. Bunny's modifications may have been infrequent but they were not innocent. Most of them concerned the thorny issue of justification, which along with the even thornier issue of authority, was the most revealing, even defining element of orthodoxy or heresy. Through Bunny's efforts Robert Persons became an abettor to heresy. The pirated edition did not challenge Protestants to examine their commitment to God's service or their inadequate method of resolution. Nor could the bowdlerised version shake the flimsy foundation of the spiritual life of the typical Protestant. In the hands of a Protestant minister it was now capable of encouraging English men and women in their error, quietly convincing them that a proper resolution to serve God could be achieved while in a state of schism. The popularity of Bunny's edition and the facility with which heresy could infect the minds and souls of innocent readers must have added to Persons' fury. In 1585 alone, an amazing fifteen editions of the Protestant version were produced, which were to be followed by an additional fifteen before 1640.111T he proliferation of pirated editions caused the licence- holders to complain to the Council that their privilege was being violated, the lucrative privilege which gave them the right `to be the only workmen thereof; which being the most vendible copy that happened in our company these many 111S ee STC 19355-19389. 296 years, would have kept us in work for a long time. ' 112O nly eight editions of the orthodox, original book were printed before 1640, although this itself is a rather remarkable figure given the difficulties of importing and distributing Catholic texts in England. ' 13 The Resolution was not, however, appreciated by every Protestant reader, and at least one anonymous writer was unable to look beyond the issue of authorship to find any spiritual benefit in the book. Instead, the book was to be avoided and feared for it was the product of papists who cared little for things spiritual but who rather `lead men from Christ and from his Gospel: and specially of all others, these hypocritical and counterfeit Jesuits, whereof this Parsons hath showed himself most cunning, by that desperate and poisoned book of his resolutions [sic], which he hath lately sent abroad to make men build upon their own righteousness, and to forsake the righteousness of Christ. ' 114T he Protestant translator and editor Richard Rogers regarded the work as a shallow and ineffective piece of piety, calling it nothing less than a direction for a Christian though it be called a Directory, tending rather to persuade men to resolve with themselves to leave some gross evils, than to show them soundly how to attain pardon, or teaching how to live Christianly ...a lthough there be a pretended show of godliness in it, and much superstition; yet the best of it is far from true piety and godliness, seeing that, and every part of it proceedeth from 112P romises from the offending printers to refrain from producing more copies were repeatedly broken. The Oxford printer John Barnes, who produced no fewer than nine copies, was particularly unrepentant: `Whereupon the said Barnes made faithful promise that he would henceforth never reprint the same book: and yet notwithstanding the said Wright's courteous dealing the said Barnes being furnished with money by him, forthwith imprinted two impressions more, contrary to all honesty and reason, and contrary to his faith and promise: which others perceiving to pass without controlment, printed also the said book to our great hindrance, and thereby disfurnished us of work for the most part ever since. ' E. Arber, A transcript of the registers of the Compnay of Stationers of London (London, 1875), pp. 793-4. 113S ee STC 19353-19354.9. 114W illiam Charke, An answer for the time, onto that foul and wicked defence of the censure (London, 1583), STC 5008, sig. Q3r-" 297 faith joined with assuranceo f God's favour, which is that alone which purify the heart, and make it able to bring forth fruits of amendments of life; without which men's best actions are wrought by the strength of corrupt nature, and are fruits of the flesh, and works of darkness and so abominable. And yet this faith do Papists make no reckoning of, neither therefore can the book of Resolution teach or hold it. 115 Persons' involvement, when it came to be known, was for others a remarkable departure from his otherwise hostile and acerbic character. Reflecting on his literary career, his Protestant biographer actually had a rare word of praise, not for the author, naturally, but for the book. `The books which he composed were partly of religion, partly of state: of religion as his Resolution, &c. of State as his Green-coat, Philopater, &c. The former sort were very commendable, and worthy words indeed not only in the judgements of the Papists but of a very learned and judicious Protestant, who hath published some of them in print, with open profession of some small editions, where the author or translator rather was found to go amiss.' 116T he book was so commendable, in fact, that Persons' contribution to it was questioned and minimised. How, after all, could one so opposed to true religion produce a book which so wonderfully promoted its advancement? The answer, at least for Thomas James, was that he could not. He could not believe nor even imagine that Robert Persons - the `bastard of Stockersey' - was the author of the book. Some other explanation was required: The best and first book which he writ, and which won him all the praise, was his Book of Resolution which he premised and divulged respectively as an exordium to all the rest of his seditious pamphlets, and lying Libels, to breed in men's minds 115R ichard Rogers, Sevent reatises, containing such direction as is gatheredo ut of holy scriptures, leading and guiding to true happiness( London, 1602), STC 21215, sig. A6`-B 1r . 116J ames,T he Jesuits' downfall, sig. G4". 298 an assured opinion of his religion, piety, and devotion: and yet not to heap more praises upon him than he justly deserves, he was but a collector or a translator at the most: the book not of his own absolute invention, but taken out of other authors, his praise was for well translating of it, close coutching and packing it up together in a very smooth style, and singular good method; and alack, alack (as all men know) it is easy to lay fine threads together, when they are gathered to a man's hand; and as easy to translate a work almost verbatim, out of piecemeal copies into his mother language. The true praise, to say the truth of his work was due to Granada that laid the platform to Fa. Parsons hand and gave him the principal grounds & matter thereof and which also was deserved by Mr Brinkley for the penning thereof. When he made an end of this book he made an end also therewith of devotion, sincerity and honest dealing 117 So despicable was Robert Persons to the Protestant community that it was preferable to compliment a Spanish Dominican than this English Jesuit. But the Society was not so contemptible that the English Protestant community was unwilling to turn a blind eye when it was looking for sources of spiritual nourishment. Persons was popular when he was purged and corrected. The Jesuit and future martyr Robert Southwell also enjoyed a degree of literary successa mong Protestant readers. Indeed, he was somehow able to produce his Marie Magdalene's funeral tears from the press of the legitimate printer John Wolfe in 1591.118T he book was followed by at least four other editions, all from established London presses.' 19 Likewise, his Moeoniae. Or certain excellent poems and spiritual hymns was printed in 1595 at the shop of Valentine Sims. 120S aint Peter's complaint was enjoyed remarkable popularity, appearing in fifteen different editions from Protestant presses, and 117Ib id, sig. Hlr. 118T essa Watt, Cheap Print and Popular Piety, 1550-1640 (Cambridge, 1991), p. 51. 119R obert Southwell, Mary Magdalene's funeral tears (London, 1591), STC 22950. 120R obert Southwell, Moeoniae (London, 1595), STC 22955. 299 in two Catholic editions. ' 21 He first printed his A short rule of good life at a secret press in London, but it was soon followed by an authorised edition. 122 Indeed, comparisons of the printing statistics often reveal both the difficulty which Catholics experienced in producing their own devotional texts and the facility with which Protestants appropriated them. Of course, one cannot conclude from these comparisons that Southwell was more popular as a spiritual writer among Protestants than among Catholics, but we can at least conclude that he was popular among Protestants. The recusant John Hawkins had translated the Catholic devotional text Holy Philosophy by the R. F. William Vair Bishop of Lisieux... wherein briefly and elegantly is expressed man's true happiness and felicity. 123B ut the French prelate was more appealing to the established press which had produced two editions of A buckler against adversity: or a treatise of constancy;1 24T he holy love of heavenly wisdom. With many other godly treatises 125a nd another version of the same with the title A most heavenly and plentiful treasure;1 26 and Holy meditations upon seven penitential and seven consolatory psalms. 127 121R obert Southwell, S. Peter's complaint and Sait Mary Magdalene's funeral tears with sundry other selected and devout poems (St Omer, 1616), STC 22963. The exclusion of these and other licensed editions of Catholic texts from ARCR II `has had the effect of minimising the importance of certain "recusant" authors, as well as concealing the high level of Catholic seepage into a context in which Protestant writers officially enjoyed a total monopoly. ' Walsham, `Domure preachers, ' p. 107. 122R obert Southwell, A short rule for good fe (England, secret press, 1597?) , STC 22968.5. 123J ohn Hawkins, trans., Holy Philosophy by the R. F. William Vair Bishop of Lisieux... wherein briefly and elegantly impressed man's true happinessa nd felicity (Douai, 1636), STC 7373.8. 124A . Court, trans., A buckler against adversity: or a treatise of constancy (London, 1622), STC 7373 and The true way to virtue and happiness. Entreating specially of constancy in public calamities, and private afflictions (London, 1623), STC 7373.2 125 . T homas Stocker, trans., The holy love of heavenly wisdom. With many other godly treatises (London 1594), STC 7373.4. 126T homas Stocker, trans., A most heavenly and plentiful treasure( London, 1609), STC 7373.5. 127W . Shute, trans., Holy meditations upon sevenp enitential and seven consolatory psalms (London, 1612), STC 7373.6. 300 The German Jesuit Jeremias Drexel was translated once by a Catholic press when his The angel-guardian's clock translated out of Latin appeared from the Rouen Press of Nicolas Courant in 1630.128B ut Protestants had both the appreciation for Drexelius, and the facilities and licence to produce at least seven editions of his devotional works. 129 In 1701 the Protestant William Nicholls, D. D., continuing a long- standing practice of the Anglican church, translated a Catholic devotional text. It was An introduction to a devout life, by Francis Sales, Bishop and Prince of Geneva. Translated and reformed from the errors of the popish edition. In his preface to the text, Nicholls places himself well within the literary tradition of English Protestantism remarking `Notwithstanding the great and deserved aversion which this nation has to popery, yet the books of their divines upon devotional and practical subjects have met with as favourable a reception among us as if their authors had been of a better religion. ' 130S uch a favourable reception could have been anticipated. The Protestant aversion was, after all, towards popery, not holiness, towards the `worship of idols' not the pursuit of virtue, towards arbitrary authority and senselessc ustoms, not towards godliness and sober piety. Catholics saw the Protestant appropriation of their literature as unambiguous evidence of a desperatec ult of heretics devoid of any spiritual force. Protestants saw the same appropriation as a very practical measure - using what was good and wholesome, abandoning what was corrupt and unnecessary. 128T homas Hawkins, trans., The angel-guardian's clock (Rouen, 1630), STC 7234. 129S ee J. M. Blom, `A German Jesuit and his Anglican readers: The case of Jeremias Drexelius (1581-1638), in G. A. M. Janssens (ed. ), Studies in Seventeenth-Century English Literature, History and Bibliography (Amsterdam, 1984), pp. 41-52. 301 The common corpus of devotional literature - the literature that was used but not shared by the two religious communities - has been viewed as a single element of unity in a world of conflict and division. As J. M. Blom sees it `in the midst of hectic religious dispute Catholic books of private devotion tended to bridge a gap that in many ways seemed insurmountable. ' 131D id they? Did the Protestant appropriation of Catholic literature bring the two communities closer together? Although the incident is hardly typical, Father Person's response to Master Bunny demonstrates that it could actually widen the gulf and increase the tension between the two groups.' 32 The devotional literature that was used by both groups did not bridge a gap. It did not create an alliance, nor did it make anyone aware of how much the two divided groups held in common. Only with the perspective available to the historian are we able to discern a common - if not shared piety. If no one noticed this common piety, it was certainly due to the fact that no one was looking. Few who were involved in the religious dispute were interested in finding common ground - the followers of Archbishop Laud were the most notable exception. 133T he majority were much more interested in pointing out the areas of disagreement, in emphasising not what joined but what divided, in stressing the vast gulf that existed between truth and error. When a Catholic author wrote with a Protestant reader in mind, it was almost always with the hope of a conversion. Loyalty was the goal, not merely edification. When a Protestant reader picked 130A n introduction to a devout life, by Francis Sales, Bishop and Prince of Geneva. Translated and reformed from the errors of the popish edition (London, 1701), pp. 3-4. 131J . M. Blom, `A German Jesuit and his Anglican readers: The caseo f JeremiasD rexelius (1581-1638), in G. A. M. Janssens( ed.) , Studies in Seventeenth-CenturyE nglish Literature, History and Bibliography, (Amsterdam, 1984), pp. 41-52. 132M ilton, Catholic and Reformed, p. 235. 133M ilton, `Catholic and Reformed, ' p. 538. 302 up a corrected copy of a book by a Genevan bishop or an English Jesuit, it was not, usually, with a mind open to the possibility of returning to the church of Rome. With the perspective of the historian we can see a common ground in the devotional literature of the age. We can see it because we look for it and are open to the idea of `common grounds' and shared piety. But in an age which values the ideals of tolerance and ecumenism one cannot be too cautious when referring to an age which did not. Conclusion: Patterns of devotion in an age of confessional conflict The position of literature in a religious system that is centred on the sacraments will always be, to some degree, peripheral. That position can shift and move further towards the centre of religious life and experience when the sacraments are not regularly available or when the ministry of priests is curtailed. Devotional literature could not replace the sacramentsi n the spiritual life of the Catholic, and so this thesis has avoided the language of surrogacy. Books were no substitute for the Mass, nor could they acts as proxies for priests. But the evidence has demonstrated that they played an increasingly important role in the devotional lives of English Catholics after 1560. The nearly uninterrupted increase of production of these books confirms this, as does the testimony of those who held positions of leadership in the mission to English Catholics. This increase in both the number and importance of these books may in fact reflect an increased realisation of the likely permanence of a Protestant regime. This thesis covers a period of eighty years, when attitudes, hopes, and strategies needed to be adjusted as Protestantism became more firmly rooted in England. The literature reflects these changes and bears witness to the advances - if not total victory - which Protestantism was able to achieve by the end of the period under investigation. By 1640 the dreams of re-conversion had been reduced to hopes for toleration, and devotional books were replacing political tracts as the most effective means to support the Catholic population. 304 The Council of Trent (1545-1563) had nearly concluded its work by the beginning of this period. Of course, its reforms would have little effect on Catholics in England. Among other things, the council had emphasised the role of the resident bishop. It envisaged a community based no longer on the medieval paradigm of the family and confraternity, but one which was now centred on the parish, a parish under the care of a priest trained in the diocesan seminaries which the council also envisaged. It was the hope of the council `that the code of parochial observance should be made watertight and universally enforced. " Trent had stressedt he centrality of the sacraments,e specially the Mass, in the spiritual and communal lives of Catholics. But in England there was no episcopacy, no parochial structure, and for many there was no Mass. Christopher Haigh's assessmento f the situation is, therefore, not without merit, that `English Catholicism and post-Tridentine Catholicism were, in some respects, moving in opposite directions in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries,' and that `Post- Reformation English Catholicism was "post-Tridentine" in little more than a chronological sense.'2 At the moment when the parish, ideally at least, was replacing the home as the centre of the religious life of Catholics on the Continent, the home had become the only place where it was possible to function as a Catholic in England. 3 The form of domestic devotion which emerged was not, however, the creation of a laity entirely deprived of clerical assistancea nd 1J ohn Bossy, ̀ The Counter-Reformation and the people of Catholic Europe,' Past and Present,4 7 (1970), p. 53. Z C. Haigh, `The continuity of Catholicism in the English Reformation, ' in The English Reformation Revised, C. Haigh, ed., (Cambridge, 1992), p. 203. 305 spiritual aid. The contribution of priests to the spiritual well-being of English Catholics extended beyond the administration of the sacraments, for - and with some very notable exceptions like Richard Verstegan and John Heigham - the work of writing, translating, and publishing was essentially a clerical enterprise.4 The mission of the seminary priests and Jesuits involved more than saying Masses for the gentry or in reconciling schismatics, and writing and publishing devotional texts extended the influence of the priesthood far beyond the restricted confines of recusant homes. Thus, English Catholics were not without the clerical discipline so strongly endorsed by Trent. By necessity, however, that discipline was communicated in a different medium: in print. Catholicism in England and on the Continent may have been moving in different directions in some respects, but not in every one. Through the efforts of translators, English men and women were able to participate - if imperfectly - in the spiritual renewal that was part of the Counter-Reformation. Some devotional motifs were traditional and familiar, but the devotional literature was, to a great extent, new and foreign. Many of the staples of medieval English devotional literature - the works of Richard Rolle, Margery Kempe, Walter Hilton, and Julian of Norwich - were no longer produced for a Catholic audience; they were replaced by the contemporary, foreign authors like Ignatius Balsamo, Nicholas Caussin, Francis de Sales, Francesco Arias, Robert Bellarmine, Vincenzo Bruno, Luca Pinelli, Gaspare Loarte, John of Avila, Luis de Granada, Bernadine de 3 A. D. Wright, The Counter-Reformation (London, 1982), p. 281. Walsham, `Domure preachers, ' pp. 121-122. 306 Villegas, Alonso Rodriguez, and Tomas de Villacastin. Because of these books English Catholics were not left behind to languish in some type of nostalgic religious survivalism, entirely separatedf rom the wider Catholic world or unable to share in its renewal. 5 Rather, they were participants in what was developing on the continent as a `mature spirituality with clear characteristics of its own, on which the impress of the new times and their atmosphere was in many ways clearly discernible. '6 The spirituality of this renewal was, in fact, suited to the particular conditions of the English Catholic community. Although this spirituality was highly sacramental, so too were many of the books that were made available in English intent on maintaining and increasing devotion to the Eucharist and appreciation for the Mass among men and women who might only infrequently participate in the sacred rites. Moreover, this spirituality promoted practices of prayer and meditation that were entirely accessible to those without regular accesst o spiritual directors. `Its genius,' according to H. 0. Evennett, `took individual rather than corporate or liturgical expressions.' 7 English Catholics rarely had the chance to undertake the Spiritual Exercises of St Ignatius at the hands of a Jesuit, but Jesuits provided a number of books which could direct the pious reader in the systematic methods of mental prayer which were in vogue on the Continent. 4 A. F. Allison, `John Heigham of S. Omer (c. 1568- c. 1632),' R H, 4 (1957), pp. 226-244 and A. G. Petti, `A bibliography of the writings of Richard Verstegan,' R H, 8 (1963) pp. 82-103. 5 A. G. Dickens, The Counter-Reformation (London, 1968), p. 185. 6 Evennett, ̀ Counter-Reformation spirituality, ' in The Counter-Reformation, D. Lubeke, ed., (Oxford, 1999), p. 49. 7 Ibid, pp. 62-63. 307 Fictitious imprints, aliases, and coded dedications may have thrown the authorities off the scent, but they did little to conceal the fact that Catholic books were arriving in England in great numbers. False imprints were used to conceal the identity of the printer, not to conceal the fact that a book was intended for a Catholic audience. On the contrary, most of these books flaunted their Catholic character and purpose: in woodcuts and engravings, in dedications and, most obviously, in the subject matter, Catholicism was being propagated and promoted in devotional books. This is certainly why even devotional books were considered threats to the religious and political stability of England. Every book that promoted Catholic devotion promoted, at least implicitly, loyalty to the Church of Rome. And in some texts, that promotion was explicit as it convinced the reader to remain faithful to the religion of his or her ancestors and to avoid the services of the schismatics. The effectiveness of these books in the maintenance of Catholicism in England can be measured by the efforts which the authorities employed in their discovery and destruction. For English Catholics between 1560-1640, devotional books often achieved what priests only rarely could. Books containing orthodox Catholic devotions, like those found in A new manual of old Christian Catholic meditations & prayers8 or the Primers and Manuals which were produced in such great number, were able to connect Catholics with a past and a tradition that were threatened with extinction in England. At the same time books like A manual of devout meditations and exercises, instructing how to pray mentally. Drawn for the 308 most part, out of the spiritual exercises of B. F. Ignatius 9 were able to connect the same readers to what was new and exciting in the Catholic church, allowing them to participate in the renewal of its spiritual life and the wider world of Catholic reform. 8 Richard Broughton, A new manual of old Christian Catholic meditations & prayers (England, secret press, 1617), STC 3900 9 Henry More, trans., A manual of devout meditations and exercises, instructing how to pray mentally. Drawn for the most part, out of the spiritual exercises of B. F. Ignatius (St Omer, 1618), STC 16877. Appendix: A chronological listing of vernacular devotional literature Translations appear in italics STC 1568 Vaux, L. A catechism,o r a Christian doctrine Louvain 24625 1573 More, T. A dialogue of comfort against tribulation, made by ...S ir Thomas More Antwerp 18083 1574 Vaux, L. A catechism,o r a Christian doctrine Antwerp 24626 1575 Certain devout and Godly petitions ...c alled JesusP salter Antwerp 14563.5 1575 Certain devout and Godly petitions ...c alled JesusP salter Antwerp 14563.3 1575 Fowler, J. Godly contemplations for the unlearned Antwerp 14563.3 1575 Whitford, R. The following of Christ, translated out of Latin into English England 23967 1575-8 Anon. trans. Certain sweet prqyers of the glorious name ofjesus England 23443 1576 Anon. trans. Certain devout meditations veg necessaa for Christian men Douai 17775 1576 Anon. trans. The godl1 garden of Gethsemani,f urnished with wholesomef ruits England 16645.3 1576 More, T. A brief treatise to receive the blessedb odEyo f our Lord Antwerp 11181 1576 Mitchell, J. A brief directo1y, and plain wqy how to sqy the rosM of our. ..L ady England 17136 1576 More, T. Certain devout prqEers and ghosLIXm editations Antwerp 11181 1576 Fowler, J. A briqýfibrm of confession,i nstructing all Christian f olk Antwerp 11181 1577 Anon. A short and an absolute order of confession England 10432.3 1578 Fisher, St John A consolation, written by John Fisher. ..t o his sister Elizabeth England 10899 1578-9 1., T. Certain necessatyp rincýples of relýgion England 4568.5 1579 Certain devout and Godly petitions. ..c alled JesusP salter Antwerp 14563.7 1579 Brinkley, S. The exercise of a Christian hLe.. .t ranslated by J S. England 16641.5 1579 Hide, T. A consolatoj! epistle to the afflicted Catholics England 13376 1579 Anon. trans. The godIT garden of Gethsemani,f urnished with wholesomef ruits England 16645.5 1580 Hide, T. A consolato1ye pistle to the afflicted Catholics England 13377 1580 Vaux, L. A catechism,o r a Christian doctrine Rouen 24626.3 1580 Certain devout and Godly petitions. ..c alled JesusP salter Rouen 14564 1580-1 R., 1. A manual or meditation, and most necessqryp rpyers England 17278.5 1580-1 R., 1. A manual or meditation England 17278.4 1582 Alfield, T. A true report of the death & maLlyrdomo f M. Campion Jesuit England 4537 1582 Persons,R . The first book of the Christian exercise,a ppertaining to resolution Rouen 19353 1582 The New Testamento fJesus Christ, translated faithfullE into English Rheims 2884 1582 Hopkins, R. Qf praer, and meditation Paris 16907 1583 Vaux, L. A catechism,o r a Christian doctrine Rouen 24627 1583 Flinton, G. A manual of prgyers newly gatheredo ut of many and divers famous Rouen 17263 authors 1583 Vaux, L. A catechism or a Christian doctrine Rouen 24626.7 1584 Hopkins, R Qf prqyer, and meditation Rouen 16908 . 1584 Persons,R . The first book of the Christian exercise. ..C orrected and newlv Rouen 19354 imprinted 1584 Brinkley, S. The exercise of a Christian hLe..N. ewly perused and corrected Rouen 16641.7 1584 Cotton, G. The contempt of the world and the vanib! thereo Rouen 10541 1585 Whitford, R. The following of Christ, translated out of Latin into Enjzlish Rouen 23968 310 1585 Persons, R. A Christian directory guiding men to their salvation Rouen 19354.1 1586 Hopkins, R. A memorial of a Christian life Rouen 16903 1587-8 Southwell, R. An epistle of comfort England 22946 1587-88 B., H. A consolatory letter to all the afflicted Catholics England 1032 1588 Anon. trans. Ane catechism or short instruction of Christian religion Paris 4568 1589 Flinton, G. A manual of prayers Whereunto is ... added a summary of the Christian Rouen 17264 belief 1589 Bucke, J. Instruction for the use of the beads,c ontaining many matters Louvain 4000 1590 Vaux, L. A catechism, or a Christian doctrine Rouen 24627a 1592-3 Howard, P. An epistle or exhortation of JesusC hrist to the soul England 14626 1592-6 Garnet, H. A sum of Christian doctrine: composed in Latin England 4571.5 1593 Garnet, H. A Treatise of Christian renunciation. Compiled of excellent sentences England 11617.8 1593 Flinton, G. A manual of prayers newly gathered out of many and divers famous England 17264.5 ni i*ýpro 1593-4 Garnet, H. The Society of the Rosary England 11617.4 1595 N., C. Our Lady hath a new son England 18326 1595 Flinton, G. A manual of prayers... Whereunto is added a new calendar,... with the England 17265 litanies 1595 Howard, P. An epistle or exhortation of Jesus Christ to the soul England 14627 1595-00 Certain devout and Godly petitions... called Jesus Psalter England 14566.5 1596 Flinton, G. A manual of prayers newly gathered out of many and divers famous England 17265.5 authors 1596 Certain devout and Godly petitions... called Jesus Psalter England 14567 1596 R., I A manual or meditation, and most necessary prate England 17278.6 1596 Wright, T. The disposition or garnishment of the soul to receive worthily the England 18335 blessed sacrament 1596 Wright, T. The disposition or garnishment of the soul to receive worthily the England 26038.8 blessed sacrament 1596-7 Southwell, R. A short rule of good life England 22968.5 1596-7 Garnet, H. The Society of the rosary newly augmented England 11617.5 1596-7 ? Brinkley, S. The exercise of a Christian life England 16642 1596-8 Anon. trans. Meditations of the lie and passion of our Lord and Saviour Jesus England 16645.7 Christ 1596? Flinton, G. A manual of prayers newly gathered out of many and divers famous England 17265.7 authors 1597 Garnet, H. The Christian doctrine in manner of a dialogue England 15353 1597 Southwell, R. A short rule of good life England 22969 1597 Garnet, H. A short treatise of the sacrament of penance England 3942 1597 Garnet, H. A short treatise of the sacrament of penance England 3941.5 1598 Persons,R . A Christian directory guiding men to their salvation Louvain 19354.3 1598 Gerard, J. The spiritual conflict. Written in Italian by a devout servant of God England 22126.3 1598 Anon. A method to meditate on the Psalter, or great rosary England 17538 1598 Garnet, H. The first part of the meditations of the passion & resurrection England 3941.1 1598 Garnet, H. The second part of the meditations of the passion and resurrection England 3941.2 1598 Garnet, H. The third part of the meditations of the passion and resurrection England 3941.3 1598 Garnet, H. The fourth part of the meditations of the passion and resurrection England 3941.4 311 1598 Peryn, W. Spiritual exercisesa nd ghostlE meditations Caen 1598-61 Garnet, H. BrieLmeditations of the most holy sacrament England 1599 Hopkins, R. A memorial of a Christian hLe England 1599 Gibbons, R. A spiritual doctrine, containiLig a rule to live well. With divers praers Louvain 1599 Flinton, G. A manual of prgyers, gatheredo ut of many famous & good authors England 1599 Fen, R. Instructions. ..h ow to meditate the mysteries of the roýajy England 1599 The primer, or office of the Blessed Virgin Mag, in Latin and Englis Antwerp 1599 Vaux, L. A catechism,o r a Christian doctrine England 1600 The New Testamento fJesus Christ ...S et forth the second time Antwerp 1600 Hill, T. Nine rocks to be avoided England 1600 Worthington, The rosM Of our Lady. Otherwise called our Lady's Psalter Antwerp T. 1601 Verstegan, R. Odes. In imitation of the sevenp enitential psalms Antwerp 1602 Garnet, H. The little memorial, concerning thegood and fruitful use of the England sacraments 1602-05 Flinton, G. A manual of prqyers. Gatheredo ut of many famous authors England 1602-5 M., 1. A brief method or wqE of teaching all sorts of Christian people England 1602-5 Southwell, R. A short rule of good life England 1603 Verstegan, R. A dialogue of dTing well. First written in the Italian tongu Antwerp 1603 C., I Saint Mqa Magdalen'sc onversion England 1603 Anon. A brief collection concerning the love of God towards mankind Douai 1603-5 Buckland, R. Sevens parks of the enkindled soul. With four lamentations England 1603-9 Southwell, R A short rule of good life Douai 1604 Gibbons, R. The virgin Maty's ItLe,f aithfully gathered out of ancient and ho England fathers 1604 Gibbons, R. A mirror to confessw ell ..t ranslated out of the Italian Douai 1604 Haddock, R. An ample declaration of the Christian doctrine. Composedi n Italian Douai 1604 Gibbons, R. The virgrin Mary's hLe,f aithfull(y gathered out of ancient and ho Douai 1604 Gibbons, R. Certain advertisementst eaching men how to lead a Christian IlLe Douai 1604 The primer, or ofice of the Blessed Virgin Yar y, in Latin and English Antwerp 1604 Heigham, J. Six spiritual books, full of marvelous piety and devotion Douai 1604 Warford, W. A brief instruction, by wqy of dialogue Louvain 1604 Anon. trans. Desiderius. A most godly, religious, and delectable dialogue England 1604 Flinton, G. A manual of prqyers: distributed according to the dgys of the week England 1604 Heigham, J. Certain devout and godly considerationst o be exercised whilst ...M ass Douai is celebrated 1604 Anon. Epitqphs, the first upon the death of ..M arie, late Queen of Scots England 1604 Flinton, G. A manual of prgyers, gatheredo ut of many famous & good authors England 1604 Heigham, J. Divers devout considerationsf or the more worthy receiving of the Douai Blessed sacrament 1604 Cotton, G. The contempt of the world and the vanity thereo Douai 1604 Heigham, J. A brief and profitable exercise of the sevenp rincýpql eLysions oýLthe Douai precious blood of our lord and Saviour Jesus 1604 Flinton, G. A manual of prayers. ..N ow newly corrected, and also more augmented Douai 1604-5 Haddock, R. An ample declaration of the Christian doctrine England 312 1604-5 Heigham, J. The spiritual pilgrimyge of'Hierusalem Douai 12574 1605 Garnet, H. A short treatise of the sacrament oLpenance England 3942.5 1605 Flinton, G. A manual of prayers gatheredo ut of many famous and godly authors Douai 17270 1605 Haddock, R. An ample declaration of the Christian doctrine. Composedi n Italian England 1835.5 1605 Southwell, R. An epistle of comfort England 22947 1605 Vaux, L. A catechism, or a Christian doctrine England 24627a.3 1606 Everard, T. Certain devout considerations for frequenting the blesseds acrament Douai 632 1606 Everard, T. Meditations Von the passion of our Lord Jesus Christ Douai 632.7 1606 Chambers,R . Miracles latehEw rought by the intercession of the glorious viLgin Antwerp 18746 Mary 1606 Southwell, R. A poem declaring the real presenceo f Christ in the blesseds acrament Douai 14560.5 1606-9 Gerard, J. The spiritual conflict. Written in Italian by a devout servant o)LGod Douai 22126.7 1607 Persons,R . The Christian directojy guiding men to eternal salvation S Omer 19354.5 1608 Price, T. The Histojy of our B. La4y of Loreto S Omer 24141 1608 Price, T. The Histojy of our B. Lady ofLoreto S Omer 24140.5 1608 Woodward, P. The dialogues ofS. Grego1y,s ur-named the Great: Pope of Rome Douai 12349 1608 Wilson, J. The English maMrolo S Omer 25771 1609 The holy bible faithfull y translated into Englis Douai 2207 1609 Kinsman, W. Flos sanctorum. The lives ofsaints. Written in Spanis Douai 24730 1609 Fitch, W. The rule oýperfection. ..C omposedb y the R. F. Benet Cqpuchin Rouen 10928 1609 Anon. trans. The mirror of the blessedh Leo f our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ Douai 3268 1609 Fen, J. The hLeo f the blessedv irgin, saint Catharine of Sienna Douai 4830 1609 Flinton, G. A manual of prayers gatheredo ut of many famous and godly authors Douai 17271 1610 Brown, A. The hLeo f the holy fiather S. Francis Douai 3271 1610 Howard, P. An gpistle or exhortation ofJesus Christ to the soul S Omer 14628 1610 Gibbons, R. Meditations ypon the mysterieso f our holy faith, the first par Douai 20485 1610 Brinkley, R. The exercise of a Christian hLe by .. .t ranslated into English S.B . S Omer 16644 1610 Gibbons, R. Meditations upon the mysterieso f our holy faith, the second part Douai 20485 1610-15 Garnet, H. A short treatise of the sacrament ofpenance np 1611 Haddock, R. An ample declaration of the Christian doctrine. Amended in some Douai 1836 places 1611 Walpole, M. The hLeo f the mother Teresao fJesus, foundress of the monasteries Antwerp 23948 1611 Heigham, J. A treatise of the love of God Douai 14568.7 1611 Heigham, J. Six spiritual books, full of marvelous pieoýa nd devotion. Douai 14568.7 1612 Hopkins, R. A memorial of a Christian hLe Douai 16905 1612 Percy, M. An abridgment of Christian perLection S Omer 11538.5 1612 Hopkins, R. Qfprq)! er, and meditation Douai 16908.5 1613 Gerard, J. The spiritual conflict Newly rgprinted, with the litanies .. of the B. Rouen 22128 Virgin Marv 1613 Maihew, E. A paradise of prayers and meditations: gatheredo ut of divers authors Douai 17197 1613 Talbot, T. The practice of meditating with profit the mvsteries oLour Lord Mechlin 4125 1613 Hinton, G. A manual of godly prayers and litanies newly annexed Rouen 17274 1613 Hoskins, A. The following of Christ. Divided into four books. S Omer 23987 1613 Yaxley, J. An introduction to a devout life Douai 11316.5 313 1613 Yaxley, J. An introduction to a devout life Douai 11317 1613 Flinton, G. A manual of prgyers, gatheredo ut of many famous & good authors Douai 17273 1613 Fen, J. Instructions ...h ow to meditate the mysteries of the rosary Rouen 16647 1614 The offlice of the Blessed VLrginM a!y , with the rubrics in Enjzlish Douai 16095.5 1614 P., 1. A treatise showing how the sacrifice of the holy Mass. ..h elp all good Rouen 19072.3 Christians 1614 Yaxley, J. An introduction to a devout hLe Rouen 11318 1614 Gibbons, R. An abridgment of meditations of the hLe,p assion, death & resurrection np 3941 1614 Heigham, J. A devout exposition of the holy Masse Douai 13032 1614 Gibbons, R. A short catechism. .. illustrated with the imyge Augsburg 1843 1614 Kinsman, W. The lives ofsaints written in Spanish Douai 24731.5 1614 Flinton, G. A manual of prayers. ..N ewly augmented Rouen 17275 1615 Young, F. A most learned and pious treatise full of divine and humane England 1840 philosQph'T 1615 Kinsman, W. The lives . ofsaints written in Spanis Douai 24731.5 1615 Hoskins, A. The following of Christ. Divided into four books. England 23988 1615 The primer or o(Liceo f the blessed Virg in Marie, in Enga lish Mechlin 16096 1615 Maihew, E. A paradise of prayers and meditations: gatheredo ut of divers authors Douai no STC 1615 Flinton, G. A manual of prayers newly gatheredo ut of many and divers famous Douai 17275.3 1615 Dawson, E. The lives of the saints Douai 2473 1a 1616 Worthington, Meditations of the whole histog of the passion of Christ. England 5827 L. 1616 Southwell, R. S. Peter'sc omplaint and Saint Mqg ryM agdalen's funeral tears S Omer 22963 1616 Flinton, G. A manual of godly prgyers, and litanies England 17275.5 1616 Southwell, R. An epistle of comfort S Omer 22948 1616 Gennings, J. The life and death of Mr Edmund Gennings, Pries S Omer 11728 1616 Warford, W. A brief instruction, by way of dialogue S Omer 25069 1616 Weston, E. A triple cure of a triple malady. That is, of vanity in qpparel. Excess in S Omer 25290 drinking. Impie1y in swearing 1616 Hoskins, A. The following of Christ. Divided into four books. Mechlin 23988.5 1616 The primer, or ofice of the Blessed Virgin Maa, in Latin and English S Omer 16096.5 1617 Haddock, R. An ample declaration of the Christian doctrine Douai 1837 1617 Everard, T. A treatise of exhortation to spiritual profit S Omer 1617 Stanney, W. A treatise of penance Douai 23212 1617 Wilson,. J. A treatise of mental prqye S Omer 18000 1617 Everard, T. The paradise of the soul. Or a treatise of virtues S Omer 269 1617 Broughton, R. A new manual of old Christian Catholic meditations & prqyers England 3900 1617 Wilson, J. A chain of twelve links England 4932.5 1617 Thezeneral rubrics of the brevia1y, out into English S Omer 16232.5 1617 Sweetnam,J . S. MaU Magdalen's pilgrimage to paradise S Omer 23532 1617 The primer or office of the blessed VLrginM arie ...N ewly reviewed England 16097 1617 Doughty, T. The practice of how to find ease,r est, repose, content, happiness England 7072.5 1617 Yaxley, J. An introduction to a devout hLe Douai 11320 1617 Yaxley, J. An introduction to a devout hLe S Omer I 1320a 314 1618 Everard, T. An instruction how to pre and meditate well Douai 1618 Cresswell, J. Quis dives salyus. How a rich man ma be saved S Omer 1618 A, C. The interior occupation of the soul...t ranslated into Eng. by C. A England 1618 Everard, T. Certain devout considerations for frequenting the blesseds acrament S Omer 1618 Cape, William The chronicle and institution of the order of the sergphicaL..S . Francis S Omer 1618 Broughton, R. A manual of prgyers used by the fathers of the primitive church England 1618 Heigham, J. Six spiritual books, full of marvelous pieoýa nd devotion Douai 1618 Pickford, J. The safeguardf rom ship-wreck, or heaven's haven Douai 1618 Falconer, J. A brief treatise of our Lord and Savior's passio S Omer 1618 More, H. A manual of devout meditations and exercises,i nstructing how to pr S Omer 1618 Flinton, G. A manual of prgyers newly gatheredo ut of many and divers famous Rouen? 1618 Everard, T. The mirror of relýgious perLectiond ivided into four books S Omer 1619 Matthew, T. The widow's mite, cast onto the treasure-houseo f the prerogatives S Omer 1619 Doughty, T. IHS Maria Joseph.T he practice how to find ease,r est, repose England 1619 Matthew, T. The hLeo f the holy and venerable mother Suor Maria Maddalena S Omer 1619 Mush, J. An abstract of the life and mqr1yrdomo f Mistress Margaret Clitherowe Mechlin 1619 Chambers, S. The garden of our B Lady. Or a devout manner how to serve her in her S Omer ros 1619 Gibbo fi's, R. Meditations upon the mysterieso f our holy faith, the second par S Omer 1619 A, C. IH ol y Pictures of the mystical figures of the Eucharist for Protestants England as Catholics ... 1619 Heigham, J. Meditations Won the mysterieso f our holy faith S Omer 1620 Hoskins, A. The followinz of Christ. Divided into four books S Omer 1620 Wilson, J. The practice of Christian works S Omer 1620 Cresswell, J. Certain pious meditations upon the beads S Omer 1620 Vaux, L. A catechism,o r a Christian doctrine. ..R eviewed and amplifie S Omer 1620 Garnet, H. The little memorial, treating of the good .. use of the sacraments S Omer 1620 Everard, T. A short rule how to live well 1620 Hinton, G. A manual of godly prayers, and litanies S Omer 1620 Matthew, T. The Audi filia, or a rich cabinet full ofspiritual jewels S Omer 1620 Matthew, T. The confessionso f the incomparable doctor S Augustine S Omer 1620 Matthew, T. A relation of the death, of the most illustrious Lord &gr. Troilo Savelli S Omer 1620 Everard, T. The practice of Christian works 1620 Southwell, R. S. Peter'sc omplaint and Saint Majy Magdalen's funeral tears S Omer 1620 Persons,R . A Christian directory ...c ommonly called the Resolution S Omer 1620 Sweetnam,J . The paradise of delights. Or the B. Virgin's garden of Loreto S Omer 1620 Hinton, G. A manual of prgyers ...A ll lately reviewed and corrected England 1621 Cape, W. The rule of our holy mother S. Clare S Omer 1621 Floyd, J. The meditations and manual of the incomparable doctor S. A uizustin S Omer 1621 Batt, A. A heavenyl treasure of comfortable meditations and prqEers Douai 1621 Bentley, C. The admirable hLeo ff. Catherine of Bologn S Omer 1621 Coffin, E. The Art of Qying well... Translated into English for the benel'it of ou S Omer counttymen 1621 Cape, W. The rule of the holy virgin S. Clare S Omer 315 1621 The primer, or offlice ofthe Blessed Virgin Majy, in Latin and English S Omer 16098 1621 Kinsman, W. The lives ofsaints. Written in SR a nis S Omer 24731b 1621 The New Testamento fJesus Christ, translated faithfully into fnglish Antwerp 2923 1621 Wilson, J. The treasure of vowed chastitE in secular persons S Omer 15524 1621 Matthew, T. The iudze wherein is showed, how Christ our Lord is to iudge th S Omer 741 world 1621 Ellis, A. ýpiritual exercises,v ety profitable for active persons Mechlin 17998 1622 Matthew, T. Of the love of our only Lord and Saviour, JesusC hrist. S Omer 17658 1622 Southwell, R. A short rule of good life S Omer 22970 1622 Persons,R . A Christian directory ...c ommonly called the Resolution S Omer 19354.7 1622 Wilson, J. The treasM of devotion. Containing divers pious prayers, & exercises S Omer 25773 1622 Anon. A treatise of auricular confession S Omer 13036 1622 Coffin, E. The art of dEiL7gw ell .. Together with a relation of the said cardinal's S Omer 1839 sickness 1622 Heigham, J. The flowers of devotion Douai 1341 1622 Cape, W. The hLeo f the glorious vjLgin S. Clare S Omer 5350 1622 Everard, T. An instruction how to pre and meditate well S Omer 1341 1622 Everard, T. Meditations of the most B. sacrament of the altar and frequenti S Omer 19937.5 1622 Flinton, G. A manual of godly 12rqyersa, nd litanies S Omer 17276.3 1622 Heigham, J. A devout exposition of the holy Mass. ..r eviewed and augmented Douai 13033 1622 Heigham, J. The hLeo f our blessedL ord and Saviour Jesus S Omer 13034 1622 Cotton, G. The contempt of the world and the vanitE thereo S Omer 10541.7 1622 Garnet, H. A sum of Christian doctrine: composedi n Latin S Omer 4572 1622 Heigham, J. The true Christian Catholic or the manner how to live Christianly S Omer 18902 1622 Coffin, E. A true relation of the last sicknessa nd death of Cardinal Bellarmine S Omer 5476 1623 Rookwood, R. The hLeo f the reverend Fa. Angel ofJoveuse Cgj2uchinp reacher S Omer 3902 1623 Floyd, J. A treatise of the holy sacrifice of the Mass S Omer 18001 1623 Kinsman, W. The lives ofsaints gathered out of the reverend father Peter S Omer Ribadengyra 1623 The primer, or the office of the Blessed Virgin Maty Douai 16098.3 1623 Everard, T. A dialogue of contrition and attrition 1623 More, H. A manual of devout meditations and exercises,i nstructing how to Rr S Omer 16877 1623 Abbot, J. Jesusp refigured: or a poem of the holy name of Jesusi n five books Antwerp? 42 1623 Doughty, T. A brief relation of the late maroýrdomo ýfive Persians converted to the England 19776 Catholic faith 1623 Doughty, T. Jesus,M aria, Joseph.T he practice of the presenceo f God England 7072.7 1623 Wilson, J. The key of paradise opening the gate unto eternal salvation S Omer 14945.5 1623 Ellis, A Spiritual exercises,v ety profitable for active persons Mechlin 17999 1624 Gibbons, R. A spiritual doctrine Douai 16922a.9 1624 More, H. A manual of devout meditations and exercises,i nstructing how to pr S Omer 16878 1624 Everard, T. Meditations upon the mysteries of our faith S Omer 20487 1624 Rochfort, L. An antidote for laziness,o r a sermon against the capital vice of sloth Dublin 21138 1624 F., R. The Psalter of the B. virgin Maty. Containing many devout praers S Omer 17542.7 1624 Haddock, R. An ample declaration of the Christian doctrine Douai 1837.3 316 1624 Garnet, H. The Sociejy of the rosary newly augmented S Omer 1624 Hoskins, A. The following of Christ. Divided into four books S Omer 1624 Heigham, J. The Psalter of Jesus.C ontaining ve!j devout and godly petitions Douai 1624 Warford, W. A brief treatise of penance S Omer 1624 Bell, A. A brief instruction how we out to hear Mass Brussels 1624 Hoskins, A. The following of Christ. Divided into four books. S Omer 1624 Certain devout and Godly petitions. ..c alled JesusP salter S Omer 1624 Batt, A. A heavenyl treasure of comfortable meditations and praers S Omer 1624 Kinsman, E. An q.p pendix of the saints lately canonized and beatiXted Douai 1624 Everard, T. Certain devout considerations for frequenting the blesseds acrament Douai 1624 Gibbons, R. The virgin Majy's hLe,f aithfull X gathered out of ancient and ho S Omer 1624 Bell, A. The rule of the relikious, of the third order of Saint Francis Brussels 1625 M., 1. A brief method or wýT of teaching all sorts of Christian people S Omer 1625 Bell, A. The histog, hLe,m iracles ecstasiesa nd revelations of.. Sister Joan S OMe ' r 1625 Percy, M. An abridgment of Christian perfection. S Omer 1625 Hopkins, R. A memorial of a Christian life Douai 1625 Manfield, H. A manual ofspiritual exercises Douai 1625 Anon. trans. Desiderius. A most godIT, religious, and delectable dialogue S Omer 1625 Flinton, G. A manual of prayers, gatheredo ut of many famous & good authors S Omer 1625 Percy, M. An abridgment of Christian perL ection S Omer 1625 Rochford, R. The IiLe of the glorious bishop S. Patrick qpostle and primate o S Omer Ireland 1625 Minton, G. A manual of prqyers newly gatheredo ut of many and divers famous S Omer 1625 Flinton, G. A manual of godly prgyers and litanies, distributed for all the dgys o S Omer +I,- --l' 1626 N., N. The book of the holy society commonly called the twelve Douai 1626 Porret, G. A spiritual directory uniting a devout soul unto her Lord Douai 1626 Percy, M. An abridgment of Christian perfection S Omer 1626 Wilson, J. The little garden of our B. Lady. Or divers practical exercises in her S Omer honour 1626 Roper, W. The mirror of virtue in worldly greatness. Or the life of Sir Thomas S Omer More 1626 Porret, G. A spiritual directory uniting a devout soul unto her Lord Jesus Christ Douai 1626 Porret, G. The seven trumpets S Omer ... exciting a sinner to repent 1626 R., P. The art to die well. Or a brief and easy method how to direct ones life S Omer 1626 Flecknoe, R. The heavenly nuptials of our blessed Saviour with a pious soul Antwerp? 1626 Percy, M. An abridgment of Christian per ection. S Omer 1626 Hawkins, T. The holy court S Omer 1627 Matthew, T. Two treatises. Of mental prayer and of the presence of God S Omer 1627 S., R. The life of B. Aloysius Gonzaga S Omer 1627 Keynes, G. The Roman martyrology according to the reformed calendar S Omer 1627 Matthew, T. A treatise of mental prayer. With another of the presence of God. S Omer 1628 Kinsman, W. The lives of saints. Written in Spanish Rouen 1628 Greenbury, C. A short relation of the life... of S Elizabeth. Queen of Portugal Brussels 317 1629 Walpole, E. The pilgrimage of Loreto S Omer 21023 1630 Matthew, T. A treatise of benignLty S Omer 742.7 1630 Hawkins, H. Certain selected gRistles ofS. Hierome S Omer 14502 1630 Anon. trans. The Christian man's guide. Wherein are contained two treatises S Omer 21142 1630 Kinsman, W. The lives ofsaints. Written in Spanis S Omer 24734 1630 Anon. trans. A short and sure wqy to heaven and present hqppiness S Omer 21144 1630 Bell, A. A short declaration of the arch-confratemily, of the cord of S. Francis Brussels 11314 1630 Matthew, T. A treatise ofpatience S Omer 743 1630 Anon. trans. A treatise of modesýy and silence S Omer 21149.5 1630 The primer or office of the blessed Virgin Marie, in English Rouen 16098 1630 Pinckney, M. A treatise of the love of God Douai 11323 1630 C., 1. A short and sure wqy to heaven Douai 21144 1630 Hawkins, T. The aLigel-guardian's clock translated out ofLatin into English. Rouen 7234 1630 Flinton, G. A manual of prgyers, gathered out of many famous & good authors Rouen 17277.3 1630 Flinton, G. A manual of prgyers, gathered out of many famous & good authors England 17277 1630 The New Testament ofJesus Christ, translated faithfully into EL7glish Antwerp 2937.5 1630 Gibbons, R. Pr!g yer and meditation LA spiritual doctrine I S Omer 16922a 1630-40 Warrin, J. Nichodemus his Gospe Rouen 18571 1630-40 Fitch, W. The rule otperfection Composed by ... the R. F. Benet Cqp uchin Rouen 10928.6 1630(c. ) English Jesuits Annotations to the exercises Rouen 16876.5 1630(c. ) More, C. The life and death of Sir Thomas More Douai 18066 1631 Hawkins, T. The holy court. The second tome S Omer 4873 1631 Matthew, T. The two first treatises of the first part of Christian pertection S Omer 21150.5 1631 The primer or office of the blessed VLrgin Marie, in Etylis S Omer 16099 1631 The primer or offlce of the blessed ELrgin Marie, in English S Omer 16100 1631 Wilson, J. The little garden of our B. La& Or divers practical exercises in her S Omer 15117.7 honour 1631 Anon. trans. Certain selected spiritual Wistles ... most profitable for all sorts o Rouen 984 peopl 1631 Floyd, J. The meditations, soliloquia, and manual of the glorious S. Augustine ... Paris 943 1631 Matthew, T. A treatise of huLiLtlitj Rouen 21145 1631 Matthew, T. The stoop gallant. Or a treatise of huadLi)ý Rouen 21146 1631 Batt, A. A hive ofsacred hongcombs containing most sweet and heavenly Douai 1922 counsel 1631 Anon. trans. Certain selected spiritual epistles most profitable for all sorts o S Omer 985.5 ... peopl 1632 Hawkins, H. The histojy of S. Elizabeth daughter of the King of Hunga Rouen 12957 1632 Matthew, T. A treatise of huL?ý S Omer 21147 1632 Anon. trans. The cure of discomfort S Omer 986 1632 Hawkins, T. The Christian diurnal S Omer 4871 1632 B., 1. Virginalia. Or spiritual sonnets in praise of the most glorious ViLgýin Rouen 3608.5 Maly 1632 Anon. trans. An exercise anizelical. For evea da in the week Rouen 10615.5 1632 The primer or offlice of the blessed Virkin Marie, in EnWish Antwerp 16101 318 1632 Gibbons, R. A spiritual doctrine, containiL7g a rule to live well S Omer 1632 Pinckney, M. A drayght of eterni Douai 1632 Anon. trans. A treatise of modestE and silence S Omer 1632 The primer or office of the blessed Virgin Marie in English S Omer 1632 More, H. The happiness of a relikious state divided into three books Rouen 1632 Porter, J. The flowers of the lives of the most renowned saints of the three Douai kinjzdoms Enaland, Scotland and Ireland 1632 Deacon, P. Delicious entertainments of the soul Douai 1632 More, H. The hgppiness of a religious state divided into three books Rouen 1632 Hawkins, H. Fuga saeculi. Or the holE hatred of the world S Omer 1632 Falconer, J. The mirror of created perfection. Or the life of the most blessed Virgin S Omer 1632 Hawkins, H. The admirable ItLe of SA 1deg ond princess and Lo undress of the dames S Omer 1632 Gray, A. The rule of the most blessed father Saint Benedict patriarch of a Gant monks 1632 Pinckney, M. A Wiritual combat: A trial of a faithful sou Douai 1632 Hawkins, H. The sweet thoLights of death, and eterni S Omer 1632 Willou ghby, G .A golden treatise of mental praer Brussels 1632 Fitzherbert, T The admirable hLe ofS Francis Xavier S Omer 1633 Gibbons, R A short Christian doctrine translated into English S Omer ... 1633 Hawkins, T. The holy court. Lwith addition of tome 11 Rouen 1633 Hoskins, A The followinjz of Christ. Divided into four books Rouen 1633 Batt, A A three-fold mirror of man's vanio! and mise Douai 1633 The New Testament ofJesus Christ... The fourth edition, enriched with Rouen pictur 1633 Anon. An introduction to the Catholic faith containing a brief explication Rouen 1633 Warford, W. A brief treatise of penance S Omer 1633 The primer, or offlce of the Blessed Virgin Ma a, in Latin and EL7 glish Rouen 1633 The primer, or the office of the Blessed Virgin Maa Rouen 1633 Hawkins, H. Partheneia sacra. Or the mysterious and delicious garden of the sacred Rouen 1633 Platt, L. The spiritual director disinteressed. According to the spirit of B. Paris Francis ofSales 1633 Batt, A. A rule ofgood 1iLe ... written especially fior virgins Douai 1633 Persons, R. The Christian directory guiding men to eternal salvation S Omer 1633 Falconer, J. Fasciculus Myrrhae or a brief treatise of our Lord and Saviour's S Omer passion 1634 Kinsman, W. The lives ofsaints. Gathered out of the R. Father ALonsus Vill! ýgas S Omer 1634 Owen, J. An antidote against purgato! y S Omer 1634 Falconer, John The life of S. Catherine a princely virgin daughter ... of S Brigit S Omer 1634 Wilson, J. A devotion of bondag S Omer 1634 Hawkins, H. The devout heart or royal throne of the pacifical Solomon Rouen 1634 Hawkins, J. The ransom of time being cq,p tive Douai 1634 Hill, T. A plain path-wgy to heaven. Meditations or spiritual discourses Douai 1634 Heigham, J. The hLe of our blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus-Christ Douai 1634 Gibbons, R. The exercise of a Christian hLe. LA spiritual doctrine7 S Omer 319 1635 Falconer, J. The admirable hLeo fSt Wenefri S Omer 21102 1635 The holy bible faithfull y translated into English Rouen 2321 1635 Corbington, R. The wondrous flitting of the kirk of our B. LaA ofLoreto Loreto 23884a.8 1635 Wilson, J. The burning lamp S Omer 12144.5 1635 Corbington, R. The miraculous origin and translation of the church of our B. LadT of Loreto 23884a.6 Loreto 1635 N., N. Maria triumphans S Omer 18331 1635 Brown, A. The hLeo f the most holy father S. Francis Douai 3272 1635 Kellison, M. Parq! phrasticall and devout discoursesu pon the psalm Miserere Douai 17130 1635 Bentley, C. The histo!y of the angelical vjLgin glorious S. Clare Douai 24924 1635 Hawkins, J. A parqphrase upon the sevenp enitential psalms Douai 19910.5 1635 Haddock, R. An ample declaration of the Christian doctrine Antwerp 1837.7 1636 Hoskins, A. QLthe following of Christ. Written in Latin by Thomasa Kempis Paris 23992 1636 Anon. The arch-confraterrifty of the holy rosM of our Blessed Lady England 17548 1636 Hawkins, J. Holy philosophv... Wherein brieflX and elegantly is expressedm an's Douai 7373.8 true hqppiness and felicioý 1636 Anon. trans. Saint Austin's care for the dead England 918 1636 Kinsman, W. The lives ofsaints. Written in Sp anis Rouen 24736 1636 Anon. The pattern of all pious prgyer Douai 17746 1637 Pickney, M. S. Austin's rule translated out of his 109. Epistle verbatim Paris 922.5 1637 Yaxley, J. An introduction to a devout 1 Paris 11322 1637 Hill, T. A plain path-wgy to heaven. ..t he secondp art S Omer 13469 1637 White, T. A catechismo f Christian doctrine Paris 25403 1637 Warford, W. A brief instruction, by wU of dialogue S Omer 25070 1637 Flinton, G. A manual of prqyers, gatheredo ut of many famous & good authors Rouen 17277.7 1638 Howard, R. The mvstical crown of the most glorious Virgin Marie Douai 17542.3 1638 Hawkins, F. An alarum for ladies. ..N ewly tUrned out of French into Englis Paris 20487.5 1638 Matthew, T. The kernel or extract of the historical part ofS A ygustine Paris 914 1638 Batt, Anthony The second book of the dialogues Douai 12350 1638 Matthew, T. The confessionso fSAuizustine Paris 911 1638 Howard, R. The mvstical crown of the most jz1oriousV irain Marie Douai 17542.3 1638 Hawkins, H. The devout heart or roval throne of the pacifical Salomon 17002 1638 Hawkins, T. The lives and singular virtues ofSaint Elzear, Count of Saraban Rouen 3073.7 1638 Batt, A. The second book of the dialoizues Douai 12350.5 1638 Hawkins, T. The holy court fourth tome Rouen 4875 1638 Hawkins, T. The holy court fourth tome. The command of reason Rouen 4875 1638 White, T. The hLeo f Gr!ý gog Lopes that great servant of God Paris 16828 1638 Hawkins, T. The holy court fourth tome. Rouen 4875 1638 Everard, T. QLthe eternal felicitE of the saints. ..t ranslated into English S Omer 1841 1638 Fursdon, J. The second book of the dialogues of S. Grego1y the Great Douai 12350 1638 Fursdon, J. The second book of the dialogues ofS. Gregoij the Great Douai 12350.5 1638 Everard, T. Qf the seven words spoken bv Christ upon the cross S Omer 1842 1638 The primer or office of the blessed Virjzin Marie in Enzlish Rouen 16101.7 320 1638 Anon. trans. The contract and testamento f the soul. S Omer 5645.5 1639 Kellison, M. Meditations, and devout discourses upon the B. Sacrament Douai 17128 1639 Batt, A. A poor mans mite. A letter of a religious man of the OSB unto a sister Douai 1589.5 1639 Batt, A. A short treatise touching the confraternity of the scapular of St. Douai Benedict's order 1639 Lassels, R. The life or the ecclesiastical history of S. Thomasa rchbishop of Paris 1019 Canterbury 1639 Kellison, M. A myrrhine posy of the bitter dolours of Christ his passion Douai 17129 1639 F., R. An admirable method to love, serve and honour the B. Virgin Mary Rouen 21628 1640 Flinton, G. A manual of godly prayers and litanies, distributed according to the Paris 17278 days of the week 1640 Hawkins, T. The Christian diurnal... Reviewed and much augmented Rouen 4871.5 1640 Wilson, J. The English ma rology... reviewed, & much au meted S Omer 25772 , 1640 Howard, R. A sacred poem describing the miraculous life of... S. Marie of Egypt Douai 17567 ... 1640 Fisher, St John A treatise of prayer, and the fruits and manner of prayer Paris 10890 BIBLIOGRAPHY PRIMARY SOURCES Entries for translated works are made under the name of the English translator, followed by the name of the author in brackets [ ]. When the name of the English translator is not known, the entry is included under the name of the author. When neither the author nor the translator has been identified in ARCR II, the entry is included under the first substantial word of the title. A., C., trans., [Pierre Coton] The interior occupation of the soul (England, secret press, 1618), STC 5860 A., C., trans., [Louis Richeome] Holy pictures of the mystical figures of the most holy sacrifice of the Eucharist (England, secret press, 1619), STC 21022 ABBOT, JOHN, Jesus prefigured: or a poem of the holy name of Jesus in five books (Antwerp?, 1623), STC 42 ALCOCK, A., trans., [Augustine] Saint Augustine his enchiridion to Laurence (London, 1607), STC 921.5 ALFIELD, THOMAS, A true report of the death & martyrdom of M. Campion Jesuit and priest, & M. Sherwin, & M. Bryan priests (England, secret press, 1582), STC 4537 ALLEN, WILLIAM, A brief history of the glorious martyrdom of xii. reverend priests, executed within these twelve months for confession and defence of the Catholic faith (Rheims, 1582), STC 369.5 Aphorisms. Or certain selected points of the doctrine of the Jesuits (London, 1609), STC 14525 [ARIAS DE ARMENTA, ALVARO], The contract and testament of the soul (St Omer, 1638), STC 5645.5 [AUGUSTINE, ST], Saint Austin's care for the dead, or his book intit'led De Cura pro mortuis, translated for the use of those who either have not his volumes, or have not knowledge in the Latin tongue (England, secret press, 1636), STC 918 B., I., Virginalia. Or spiritual sonnets in praise of the most glorious Virg Ma y, upon every several title of her litanies of Loreto (Rouen, 1632), STC 3608.5 BATT, ANTHONY, A poor man's mite. A letter of a religious man of the order of Saint Benedict, unto a sister of his, concerning the rosary or psalter of our blessed lady (Douai, 1639), 1589.5 322 BATT, ANTHONY, A short treatise touching the confraternity of the scapular of St. Benedict's order (Douai, 1639), STC 1020 BATT, ANTHONY, trans., [St Augustine] A heavenly treasure of comfortable meditations and prayers (Douai, 1622), STC 933.5 BATT, ANTHONY, trans., [St Bernard] A hive of sacred honeycombs containing most sweet and heavenly counsel (Douai, 1631), STC 1922 BATT, ANTHONY, trans., [St Bernard?] A rule of good life: written... especially for virgins (Douai, 1633), STC 1923 BATT, ANTHONY, trans., [Johann von Tritheim] A three-fold mirror of man's vanity and misery (Douai, 1633), STC 24285.5 BELL, ARTHUR, A short declaration of the arch-confraternity, of the cord of S. Francis (Brussels, 1630), STC 11314.8 BELL, ARTHUR, trans., [Antonio Daca] The history, life, and miracles, ecstasies and revelations of the blessed virgin, sister Joan, of the Cross, of the third order of our holy father S. Francis (St Omer, 1625), STC 6185 BELL, ARTHUR, trans., [ St Francis] The rule of the religious, of the third order of Saint Francis, for both sexes, making three vows, and living together in community and cloister (Brussels, 1624), STC 11314.6 BELL, ARTHUR, trans., [Franciscus Paludanus] A short relation of the life, virtues, and miracles of S. Elizabeth... Queen of Portugal (Brussels, 1624), STC 19167 BELL, ARTHUR, trans., [Andres de Soto] A brief instruction how we ought to hear the Mass, and with what disposition, and pre arapt ion (Brussels, 1624), STC 22936.5 BENTLEY, CATHARINE, trans., [Francis Hendricq] The history of the angelical virgin glorious S. Clare (Douai, 1635), STC 24924 A brief collection concerning the love of God towards mankind, & how for divers causes we are justly bound to love and serve him (Douai, 1603), STC 5554 BRINKLEY, STEPHEN, trans., [Gaspare Loarte] The exercise of a Christian life. Written in Italian by... Gaspare Loarte (London, 1579), STC 16641.5 BRINKLEY, STEPHEN, trans., [Gaspare Loarte] The exercise of a Christian life... Newly perused and corrected by the translator. With certain very devout exercises and prayers added thereunto, more than were in the first edition (Rouen, 1584), STC 16641.7 323 BROUGHTON, RICHARD, A manual of prayers used by the fathers of the primitive church, for the most part within the four first hundred years of Christ (England, secret press, 1618), STC 3899 BROUGHTON, RICHARD, A new manual of old Christian Catholic meditations, & prayers (England, secret press, 1617), STC 3900 BROUGHTON, RICHARD, A just and moderate answer to a most injurious and slanderous pamphlet (England, secret press, 1606) STC 18818 BROWNE, ANTHONY MARIA, trans., [St Bonaventure] The life of the holy father S. Francis written by saint Bonaventure (Douai, 1610), STC 3271 BUCKE, JOHN, Instructions for the use of the beads, containing many matters of meditation or mental prate (Louvain, 1589), STC 4000 BUCKLAND, RALPH, An embassage from heaven. Wherein our Lord and Saviour Christ Jesus giveth to understand, his just indignation against all such, as being catholickely minded, dare yield their presence to the rites.. .o f the malignant church (England, secret press, 1610 or 1611), STC 4007 BUCKLAND, RALPH, Seven sparks of the enkindled soul. With four lamentations, which ...m ay be used at all times, when the church happeneth to be extremely afflicted (England, secret press, 1603-1605), STC 4008 BUNNY, EDMUND, A book of Christian exercise, appertaining to resolution, that is showing how that we should resolve ourselves to become Christians in deed: by R. P. perused, and accompanied now with a treatise tending towards Pacification: by Edm. Bunt' (London, 1584), STC 19355 CAMPION, EDMUND, Campion Englished. Or a translation of the ten reasons, in which Edmund Campion... insisted in his challenge (Rouen, 1632), STC 4535 [CANISIUS, PETER], Certain devout meditations very necessary for Christian men devoutly to meditate upon morning and evening, every day in the week: concerning Christ his life and passion, and the fruits thereof (Douai, 1576), STC 17775 CAPE, WILLIAM, trans., [Marcos da Silva] The chronicle and institution of the order of the seraphical father S. Francis. ..S et forth first in the Portugal... lastly in the French, and now in the English tongue (St Omer, 1618), STC 11314.2 CAPE, WILLIAM, trans., [Marcos da Silva] The rule of our holy mother S. Clare (St Omer, 1621), STC 5350.4 324 Certain devout and godly petitions, commonly called, Jesus Psalter (Antwerp, 1575), STC 14563 CHAMBERS, ROBERT, trans., [Philips Numan] Miracles lately wrought by the intercession of the glorious virgin Mary (Antwerp, 1606), STC 18746 CHAMBERS, SABINE, The harden of our B. Lady. Or a devout manner how to serve her in her rosary (St Omer, 1619), STC 4955 COFFIN, EDWARD, trans., [Robert Bellarmine] The art of dying well... Translated into English for the benefit of our countrymen (St Omer, 1620), STC 1838.5 COFFIN, EDWARD, trans., [Robert Bellarmine] The art of dying well... Together with a relation of the said cardinal's sickness, death and burial (St Omer, 1623), STC 1839 CORBINGTON, ROBERT, trans., [Pietro di Giorgio Tolomei] The miraculous origin and translation of the church of our B. Lady of Loreto (Loreto, 1635), STC 23884a.6 CORBINGTON, ROBERT, trans., [Pietro di Giorgio Tolomei] The wondrous flitting of the kirk of our B. Lady of Loreto (Loreto, 1635), STC 23884a.8 COTTON, GEORGE, trans., [Diego de Estella] The contempt of the world, and the vanity thereof (Rouen 1584), STC 10541 COTTON, GEORGE, trans., [Diego de Estella] The contempt of the world and the vanity thereof (Douai, 1604), STC 10541.4 CRAWSHAW, WILLIAM, The fateful vesper, a true relation of that lamentable accident at the Black-Friars. With the names of such persons as perished (London, 1623), STC 6015 CRESWELL, JOSEPH, Certain pious meditations upon the beads (St Omer, 1620) STC 11315 CRESWELL, JOSEPH, trans., [Salvianus] Quis dives saluus. How a rich man may be saved. Written... about the year of Christ 480 (St Omer, 1618), STC 21676 DEACON, PRUDENTIA, trans., [Francis de Sales] Delicious entertainments of the soul... Translated by a dame of Our Ladies of Comfort of the order of S. Bennet (Douai, 1632), STC 11316 A discovery of the most secret and subtle practices of the Jesuits (London, 1610), STC 14528 325 DOUGHTY, THOMAS, The practice how to find ease, rest, repose, content and happiness...C ontaining directions, how to make mental, or spiritual prayer (Douai, 1618), STC 7072.5 DOUGHTY, THOMAS, IHS Maria Joseph. The practice how to find ease, rest, repose, content and happiness...t he second part. Containing directions how to end all controversies (Rouen 1619), STC 7072.6 DOUGHTY, THOMAS, Jesus Maria Joseph. The practice of the presence of God (Rouen, 1623), STC 7072.7 ELLIS, ABRAHAM, trans., [Antonio de Molina] Spiritual exercises, very profitable for active persons desirous of their salvation (Mechlin, 1621), STC 17998 ELLIS, ABRAHAM, trans., [Antonio de Molina] Spiritual exercises, very profitable for active persons desirous of their salvation (Mechlin, 1622), not in STC. ARCRII 185.1 EVELINGE, ELIZABETH, trans., [Francis Hendricq] The history of the angelical virgin glorious S. Clare (Douai, 1635), STC 24924 EVERARD, THOMAS, trans., [Albertus Magnus] The paradise of the soul. Or a treatise of virtues... Whereunto is adjoined another treatise of the same author, of the union with God (St Omer, 1617), STC 269 EVERARD, THOMAS, trans., [Fulvio Androzzi] Certain devout considerations of frequenting the blessed sacrament... With sundry other precepts and rules of direction (Douai, 1606), STC 632 EVERARD, THOMAS, trans., [Fulvio Androzzi] Meditations upon the passion of our Lord Jesus Christ (Douai, 1606), STC 632.7 EVERARD, THOMAS, trans., [Francisco Arias] A treatise of exhortation to spiritual profit (St Omer, 1617), STC 18000 EVERARD, THOMAS, trans., [Ignatius Balsamo] An instruction how to pray and meditate well... Composed at the request of certain lovers of piety, desirous to advance themselves in perfection (Douai, 1618), STC 1340.5 EVERARD, THOMAS, trans., [Robert Bellarmine] Of the eternal felicity of the saints (St Omer, 1638), STC 1841 EVERARD, THOMAS, trans., [Cardinal Bellarmine] Of the seven words spoken by Christ upon the cross (St Omer, 1638), STC 1842 EVERARD, THOMAS, trans., [Luca Pineli] Meditations of the most B. sacrament of the altar, and frequenting the Holy Communion (St Omer, 1622), STC 19937.5 326 EVERARD, THOMAS, trans., [Luca Pinelli] The mirror of religious perfection divided into four books (St Omer, 1618), STC 19938 EVERARD, THOMAS, trans., [Luis de la Puente] Meditations upon the mysteries of our faith. Corresponding to the three ways, purgative, illuminative, and unitive (St Omer, 1624), STC 20487 EVERARD, THOMAS, trans., [?] A short rule how to live well (St Omer, 1620) STC 11315 F., R., trans., [Alessio de Salo] An admirable method to love, serve, and honour the B. Virgin Mary (Rouen, 1639), STC 21628 F., R., trans., [St Bonaventure] The paslter of the B. virgin Containing many devout -prayerspetitions (St Omer, 1624), STC 17542.7 FALCONER, JOHN, Fasciculus, myrrhae. Or a brief treatise of our Lord and saviour's passion (St Omer, 1633), STC 10676 FALCONER, JOHN, The life of S. Catherine a princely virgin (St Omer, 1634), STC 10676.5 FALCONER, JOHN, The mirror of created perfection. Or the life of the most blessed virgin Mary mother of God (St Omer, 1632), STC 10677 FALCONER, JOHN, trans., [ Robert of Shrewsbury] The admirable life of Saint Wenefride (St Omer, 1635), STC 21102 FEALTY, DANIEL, Ancilla pietatis: or, the handmaid to private devotion (London, 1626), STC 10726. FEN, JOHN, trans., [Gaspare Loarte] Instructions and advertisements, how to meditate the mysteries of the rosary of the most holy virgin Mary (England, secret press, 1599), STC 16646 FEN, JOHN, trans., [Jeronimo Osorio da Fonseca] A learned and very eloquent treatise written in Latin by ... Hieronymus Osorius (Louvain, 1568), STC 18889 FEN, JOHN, trans., [Raymundus de Vineis] The life of the blessed virgin, saint Catharine of Sienna (Douai, 1609), STC 4830 The fiery trial of God's saints: as counter-poise to I. W. priest his English m ology (London, 1611), STC 24269 FISHER, JOHN, A treatise of prayer, and the fruits and manner of prayer (Paris, 1640), STC 10890 327 FITCH, WILLIAM, The rule of perfection containing a brief and perspicuous abridgement of all the whole spiritual life (Rouen 1609), STC 10928 FITZHERBERT, THOMAS, The admirable life of S. Francis Xavier (St Omer, 1632), STC 24140 FLINTON, GEORGE, ed., A manual of prayers newly gathered out of many and divers famous authors as well ancient as of the time present (Rouen, 1583), STC 17263 FLINTON, GEORGE, ed., A manual of prayers newly gathered out of many and divers famous authors as well ancient as of the time present. Whereunto is added a summary of the Christian belief (Rouen, 1589), STC 17264 FLINTON, GEORGE, ed., A manual of prayers newly gathered out of many and divers famous authors as well ancient as of the time present (England, secret press, c. 1593), STC 17264.5 FLINTON, GEORGE, ed., A manual of prayers newly gathered out of many and divers famous authors as well ancient as of the time present. Whereunto is added a new calendar, &a summary of the Christian belief, with the litanies (England, secret press, c. 1595), STC 17265 FLINTON, GEORGE, ed., A manual of prayers newly gathered out of many and divers famous authors as well ancient as of the time present (England, secret press, 1596), STC 17265.5 FLINTON, GEORGE, ed., A manual of prayers, gathered out of many famous and good authors...D istributed according to the days of the week (England, secret press, 1599), STC 17266 FLINTON, GEORGE, ed., A manual of prayers: distributed according to the days of the week. Whereunto is added a more large, and ample exercise for morning and evening (England, secret press, 1604), STC 17267 FLINTON, GEORGE, ed., A manual of prayers gathered out of many famous and godly authors: augmented with divers points collected out of the princes manual (Douai, 1605), STC 17270 FLINTON, GEORGE, ed., A manual of godly prayers, and litanies newly annexed...W hereunto is added the hymns and prayers for the principal feasts of the year; with a brief form of confession and the order to help at Mass (Rouen, 1613), STC 17274 FLINTON, GEORGE, ed., A manual of godly prayers, and litanies, taken out of many famous authors, and distributed both for the morning and evening exercises (England, secret press, 1616), STC 17275.5 328 FLINTON, GEORGE, ed., A manual of godly prayers, and litanies, taken out of many famous authors, and distributed both for the morning and evening exercises, for all the days of the week. With the hymns and prayers for the principal holy days...W here unto added all the psalms of King David, used in the Primer with the offices of the Holy Cross, and of the holy Ghost (St Omer, 1620), STC 17276 FLINTON, GEORGE, ed., A manual of godly prayers, and litanies, taken out _ of many famous authors, and distributed both for the morning and evening exercises, for all the days of the week. With the hymns and prayers for the principal holy days.. Where unto added all the psalms of King David, . used in the Primer with the offices of the Holy Cross, and of the holy Ghost (England, secret press, 1620), STC 17276.2 FLINTON, GEORGE, ed., A manual of godly prayers and litanies, distributed according to the days of the week. Newly perused and distributed into a better order (Paris, 1640), STC 17278 FLOYD, JOHN, A word of comfort. Or a discourse concerning the late lamentable accident of the fall of a room, at a Catholic sermon in the Black- friars (St Omer, 1632), STC 11118 FLOYD, JOHN, trans., [St Augustine] The meditations, soliloquia, and manual of the glorious doctor S Augustine (Paris, 1631), STC 943 FLOYD, JOHN, trans., [Antonio de Molina] A treatise of the holy sacrifice of the Mass, and excellencies thereof (St Omer, 1623), STC 18001 FOWLER, JOHN, Godly contemplations for the unlearned (Louvain, 1568), STC 14563.3 FOWLER, JOHN, trans., [?] A brief form of confession, instructing all Christina folk how to confess their sins, & so to dispose themselves, that they may enjoy the benefit of true penance (Antwerp, 1576), STC 11181 FURSDON, JOHN and BATT, ANTHONY, trans., [Gregory the Great] The second book of the dialogues of S. Gregory the Great...c ontaining the life and miracles of our holy father S. Benedict. To which is adjoined the Rule of the same holy patriarch (Douai, 1638), STC 12350 GARNET, HENRY, The society of the Rosary. Wherein is contained the beginning, increase, & profit of the same. Also the orders & manifold graces annexed unto it (England, secret press, 1593-1594), STC 11617.4 GARNET, HENRY, The Society of the Rosary, newly augmented (England, secret press, 1596-1597) STC 11617.5 GARNET, HENRY, The Society of the Rosary...T ogether with the life of the glorious Virgin Marie (St Omer, 1624), STC 11617.6 329 GARNET, HENRY, A treatise of Christian renunciation (England, secret press, 1593), STC 11627.8 GARNET, HENRY, trans., [Francisco Arias] The little memorial, concerning the good and fruitful use of the sacraments (England, secret press, 1602), STC 742 GARNET, HENRY, trans., [Vicenzo Bruno] The first part of the meditations of the passion, & resurrection of Christ our Saviour (England, secret press, c. 1598), STC 4941.1 GARNET, HENRY, trans., [Vincenzo Bruno] The second part of the meditations of the passion and resurrection of Christ our Saviour (England, secret press, c. 1598), STC 3941.2 GARNET, HENRY, trans., [Vincenzo Bruno] The third part of the meditations of the passion & resurrection of Christ our saviour (England, secret press, c. 1598), STC 3941.3 GARNET, HENRY, trans., [Vincenzo Bruno] The fourth part of the meditations of the passion & resurrection of Christ our Saviour (England, secret press, c. 1598), STC 3941.4 GARNET, HENRY, trans., [Vincenzo Bruno] A short treatise of the sacrament of penance. With the manner of examination of conscience for a general confession (England, secret press, 1597), STC 3941.5 GARNET, HENRY, trans., [Peter Canisius] A sum of Christian doctrine: composed in Latin, by the R. Father P. Canisius (England, secret press, 1592- 1596) GARNET, HENRY, trans., [Jacobus Ledisma] The Christian doctrine in manner of a dialogue between the Master and the Disciple (England, secret press, 1597), STC 15353 GARNET, HENRY, trans., [Luca Pinelli] Brief meditations of the most holy sacrament and of preparation, for receiving the same (England, secret press, 1598-1601), STC 19937 GEE, JOHN, The foot out of the snare (London, 1624), STC 11704 GENNINGS, JOHN, The life and death of Mr. Edmund Gennings priest, crowned with martyrdom at London, the 10, day of November, in the year M. D. XCI (St Omer, 1614), STC 11728 GERARD, JOHN, trans., [Lorenzo Scupoli] The spiritual conflict. Written in Italian by a devout servant of God (England, secret press, 1606-1609), STC 22126.7 330 GIBBONS, RICHARD, trans., [Robert Bellarmine] A short catechism...i llustrated with the images (Augsburg, 1614), STC 1843 GIBBONS, RICHARD, trans., [Charles Borromeo] Certain advertisements teaching men how to lead a Christians life (Douai, 1604), STC 14568.3 GIBBONS, RICHARD, trans., [Vincenzo Bruno] An abridgement of meditations of the life, passion, death and resurrection of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ (St Omer, 1614), STC 3941 GIBBONS, RICHARD, trans., [Luis de Granada] A spiritual doctrine, containing a rule to live well (Louvain, 1599), STC 16922 GIBBONS, RICHARD, trans., [Luis de Granada] Prayer and meditation. wherein are piously considered the principal mysteries of our holy fait (St Omer, 1630), STC 16922a GIBBONS, RICHARD, trans., [Luis de Granada] A spiritual doctrine, containing a rule to live well, with diverse prayers and meditations (St Omer, 1632), STC 16922a.3 GIBBONS, RICHARD, trans., [Luis de Granada] The exercise of a Christian life. Containing many godly, and devout prayers and meditations (St Omer, 1634), STC 16922a.7 GIBBONS, RICHARD, trans., [Luca Pinelli] The virgin Marie's life, faithfully gathered out of ancient and holy fathers, together with meditations and documents upon the same (Douai, 1604), STC 19940 GIBBONS, RICHARD, trans., [Luis de la Puente] Meditations upon the mysteries of our holy faith, with the practice of mental prayer touching the same (Douai, 1610), STC 20485 [GIUSTINELLI, PETRO], An excercise angelical. For everyday on the week. Whereby to stir up our selves daily more & more, to the love of the B. Virg & all immaculate mother of God (Rouen, 1632), STC 10615.5 GOAD, THOMAS, The doleful evensong, or a narration of the downfall of the floor in the Blackfriars (London, 1623), STC 11923 GRAY, ALEXIA, trans., [St Benedict] The rule of the most blessed father Saint Benedict patriarch of all monks (Gant, 1632), STC 1860 GREENBURY, CATHERINE, trans., [Franciscus Paludanus] A short relation, of the life, virtues, and miracles, of S. Elizabeth called the Peacemaker (Brussels, 1628), STC 19167 331 HADDOCK, RICHARD, trans., An ample declaration of the Christian doctrine (Rouen, 1604-1605), STC 1834 HALL, JOSEPH, The works of Joseph Hall (London, 1634), STC 12640 HAWKINS, HENRY, The history of S. Elizabeth daughter of the king of Hungary (Rouen, 1632), STC 12957 HAWKINS, HENRY, trans., [St Jerome] Certain selected epistles of S. Hierome as also the lives of Saint Paul the first hermit, of Saint Hilarion the first monk of Syria and of S. Malchus (St Omer, 1630), STC 14502 HAWKINS, HENRY, trans., [Jean Puget de la Serre] The sweet thoughts of death, and eternity (St Omer, 1632), STC 20492 HAWKINS, HENRY, trans., [Etienne Binet] The admirable life of S. Alde ndprincess and foundress (St Omer, 1632), STC 3073.3 HAWKINS, HENRY, trans., [Giovanni Pietro Maffei] Fuga saeculi. Or the holy hatred of the world. Containing the lives of 17. holy confessors of Christ, selected out of sundry authors (St Omer, 1632), STC 17181 HAWKINS, JOHN, trans., [ Guillaume du Vair] Holy philosophy by the R. F. William Vair Bishop of Lisieux (Douai, 1636), STC 7373.8 HAWKINS, THOMAS, trans., [Nicholas Caussin] The Christian diurnal (St Omer, 1632), STC 4871 HAWKINS, THOMAS, trans., [Jerome Drexelius] The angel-guardian's clock (Rouen 1630), STC 7234 HAWKINS, THOMAS, trans., [Pierre Mathieu] The history of S. Elizabeth daughter of the King of Hungary (Brussels, 1633), STC 17663 HEIGHAM, JOHN, A devout exposition of the Holy Mass. With ample declaration of all the rites and ceremonies belonging to the same (Douai, 1614), STC 13032 HEIGHAM, JOHN, Certain devout and godly considerations to be exercised whilst... Mass is celebrated (Douai, 1640), STC 14568.3 HEIGHAM, JOHN, trans., [St Bonaventure] The life of our blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus. Gathered out of ...S aint Bonaventure, and out of divers other rare, renowned and Catholic doctors (St Omer, 1622), STC 13034 HEIGHAM, JOHN, trans., [Jan van Paeschen] The spiritual pilgrimage o Jerusalem, containing three hundred and sixty-five day journey, wherein the devout person may meditate on sundry points of his redemption (Douai, 1604- 1605), STC 12574 332 HEIGHAM, JOHN, trans., [Luis de la Puente] Meditations upon the mysteries of our holy faith, wit the practice of mental prayer touching the same (St Omer, 1619), STC 20486 HEIGHAM, JOHN, ed., Six spiritual books, full of marvellous piety and devotion (Douai, 1604), STC 14568.7 Here beginneth a contemplation or meditation of the shedding of the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ at seven times (London, c. 1500) HIDE, THOMAS, A consolatory epistle to the afflicted Catholics (England, secret press, 1579) HILL, THOMAS, A plain path-way to heaven. Meditations or spiritual discourses and illuminations upon the gospels of all the year (Douai, 1634), STC 13468.5 HILL, THOMAS, Nine rocks to be avoided, of those who sail towards the port of perfection (Douai, 1600), STC 6181.7 HOPKINS, RICHARD, trans., [Luis de Granada] A memorial of a Christian life (Rouen 1586), STC 16903 HOPKINS, RICHARD, trans., [Luis de Granada] Of prayer and meditation. Wherein are contained fourteen devout meditations for the seven days of the week, both for the mornings, and evenings (Paris, 1582), STC 16907 HOSKINS, ANTHONY, trans., [Thomas a Kempis] The following of Christ. Divided into four books (St Omer, 1613), STC 23987 HOSKINS, ANTHONY, trans., [Thomas a Kempis] The following of Christ. Divided into four books (Mechlin, 1616), STC 23988.5 HOWARD, PHILIP, trans., [Johann Justus Lanspergius] An epistle or exhortation of Jesus Christ to the soul, that is devoutly affected toward him, wherein are only contained, certain divine inspirations, which will teach a man how to know himself, and instruct him in the perfection of true piety (England, secret press, 1592-1593), STC14626.6 HOWARD, ROBERT, trans., [?] The mystical crown of the most glorious virgin Marie (Douai, 1638), STC 17542.3 JAMES, THOMAS, The Jesuits' downfall, threatened against them bathe secular priests (London, 1612), STC 14459 I., T., trans., [Peter Canisius] Certain necessaryp rinciples in religion, which may be entitled, A catechism containing all the parts of the Christian and Catholic faith (Douai, 1578-1579), STC 4568.5 333 KELLISON, MATTHEW, Meditations, and devout discourses upon the B. Sacrament (Douai, 1639), STC 17128 KELLISON, MATTHEW, A myrrhine posie of the bitter dolours of Christ his passion, and of the seven words he spoke on the cross (Douai 1639), STC 17129 KEYNES, GEORGE, trans., [?] The Roman martyrology according to the reformed calendar (St Omer, 1627), STC 17533 KINSMAN, WILLIAM, trans., [Alfonso Vilegas] Flos sanctorum. The lives of the saints (Douai, 1609), STC 24730 [LOARTE, GASPARE], The godly garden of Gethsemani, furnished with wholesome fruits of meditation and prayer: upon the blessed passion of Christ our redeemer (England, secret press, 1576), STC 16645.3 M., I., trans., [Alonso de Madrid] A brief method or way teaching all sorts of Christian people, how, to serve God in a most perfect manner (England, secret press, 1602-1605), STC 535.5 MAIHEW, EDWARD, A paradise of prayers and meditations: gathered out of divers authors (Douai, 1613), STC 17197 MANFIELD, HENRY, trans., [Andres de Madrid] A manual of spiritual exercises (St Omer, 1625), STC 4603 MARTIN, GREGORY, A treatise of schism. Showing that all Catholics ought in any wise to abstain all together from heretical conventicles, to wilt, their prayers, sermons, &c. (England, secret press, 1578), STC 17508 MARTIN GREGORY, et al., trans., The holy bible faithfully translated into English, out of the authentical Latin. Diligently conferred with the Hebrew, Greek, and other editions in divers languages (Douai, 1609), STC 2207 MARTIN, GREOGRY, et al., trans., The New Testament of Jesus Christ, translated faithfully into English (Rhiems, 1582), STC 2884 MASON, RICHARD, A manual of the arch-confraternity of the cord of the passion instituted in the seraphical order of S. Francis (Douai, 1636), STC 17618.5 MASON, RICHARD, trans., [St Francis] The rule and testament of the serhical father S. Francis (Douai, 1635), STC 11314.4 MATTHEW, TOBIE, The widow's mite, cast into the treasure-house of the prerogatives, and praises of our B. Lady (St Omer, 1619), STC 11490 334 MATTHEW, TOBIE, trans., [St Augustine] The confessions of the incomparable doctor S. Augustine (St Omer, 1620), STC 910 MATTHEW, TOBIE, trans., [St Augustine] The kernel or extract of the historical part of S. Augustine's confessions.. taken out of that whole book, & severed from such parts as are obscure (Paris, 1638), STC 914 MATTHEW, TOBIE, trans., [Juan de Avila] The audi filia, or a rich cabinet full of spiritual jewels (St Omer, 1620), STC 983 MATTHEW, TOBIE, trans., [Giuseppe Biondo] A relation of the death, of the most illustrious lord, Siur. Troilo Savelli, a baron of Rome (St Omer, 1620), STC 3134 MATTHEW, TOBIE, trans., [Alfonso Rodriguez] A treatise of humility (Rouen, 1631), STC 21145 MATTHEW, TOBIE, trans., [Alfonso Rodriguez] A treatise of mental prayer. With another of the presence of God (St Omer, 1627), STC 21148 MATTHEW, TOBIE, trans., [Alfonso Rodriguez] The two first treatises of the first part of Christian perfection... the one of them being entitled, of the estimation and affection which we ought to carry to spiritual things.. .A nd the other, of the perfection of our ordinary actions (St Omer, 1631), STC 21150.5 MATTHEW, TOBIE, ed., The life of the holy and venerable mother Suor Maria Maddalena de Patsi, a Florentine lady, & religious of the order of Carmelites (St Omer, 1619), STC 20483 A method, to meditate on the paslter, or great rosary of our blessed Lady: with a preface in the defence and commendation of it (Antwerp, 1598), STC 17538 MITCHELL, JOHN, A brief directory, and plain way how to say the rosary of our blessed lady: with meditations for such as are not exercised therein (England, secret press, 1576), STC 17136 MORE, CRESACRE, The life and death of Sir Thomas More Lord High Chancellor of England (Douai, not before 1630), STC 18066 MORE, GERTRUDE, The holy pictures of a divine lover (Paris, 1657) MORE, HENRY, trans., [Tomas de Villacastin] A manual of devout meditations and exercises, instructing how to pray mentally. Drawn for the most part, out of the spiritual exercises of B. F. Ignatius (St Omer, 1618), STC 16877 MUSH, JOHN, An abstract of the life and martyrdom of Mistress Margaret Clitherow, who suffered in the year of our Lord 1586. the 25. of March (Mechlin, 1619), STC 18316.7 335 N., R., The Christian's manna. Or a treatise of the most blessed and reverend sacrament of the Eucharist (St Omer, 1613), STC 18334 NEVILLE, EDMUND, trans., [Joäo Rodriguez Giräo] The palm of Christian fortitude. Or the glorious combats of Christians in Japonia. Taken out of letters of the society of Jesus from thence (St Omer, 1630), STC 18482 OWEN, JANE, An antidote against purgatory. Or discourse, wherein is showed that good works, and alms deeds, performed in the name of Christ, are a chief means for the preventing, or mitigating the torments of purgatory (St Omer, 1634), STC 18984 OWEN, LEWIS, The running register: recording a true relation of the state of English colleges, in all foreign parts (London, 1626), STC 18996 P., A., The golden treatise of the ancient and learned Vincentius Lirinensis (England, secret press, 1596-1597), STC 24748 P., I., A treatise showing how the sacrifice of the Holy Mass the worthy receiving of Christ's body in the holy sacrament the power to remit sins given to churchmen, the prang to saints help all good Christians to salvation (Rouen, 1614), STC 19072.3 The pattern of all pious prayer, and the epitome of all Christian Catholic belief. Being a pathetical and paraphrastical meter upon the Pater Noster, Ave Maria, and Credo in Deum, &c. (Douai, 1636), STC 17746 PERCY, MARY, trans., [Isabella Christina Bellinzaga] An abridgement of Christian perfection. Wherein are contained many excellent documents, precepts, & advertisements, touching the holy & sacred mystical divinity (St Omer, 1612), STC 11538.5 PERSONS, ROBERT, The first book of the Christian exercise, appertaining to resolution (Rouen, 1582), STC 19534 PERSONS, ROBERT, The first book of the Christian exercise, appertaining to resolution. Corrected and newly imprinted (Rouen, 1584), STC 19354 PERSONS, ROBERT, A Christian directory guiding men to their salvation (Rouen, 1585), STC 19354.1 PERSONS, ROBERT, A Christian directory guiding men to their salvation (Louvain, 1598), STC 19354.3 PERSONS, ROBERT, The Christian directory guiding men to eternal salvation... consisting of two parts, whereof the former layeth down the motives to resolution: and the other removeth the impediments (St Omer, 1607), STC 19354.3 336 PERSONS, ROBERT, A Christian directory, commonly called the resolution... Written by the R. F. Robert Persons (St Omer, 1620), STC 19354.6 PERSONS, ROBERT, A Christian directory, guiding men to eternal salvation... The sixth and last edition (St Omer, 1622), STC 19354.7 PERSONS, ROBERT, The Christian directory, guiding men to eternal salvation... The seventh, and last edition (St Omer, 1633), STC 19354.9 PICKFORD, JOHN, The safeguard from ship-wreck, or heaven's haven (Douai, 1618), STC 19073 PICKNEY, MILES, trans., [Jean Pierre Camus] A spiritual combat: A trial of a faithful soul or consolation in temptation (Douai, 1632), STC 4553 PICKNEY, MILES, trans., [Francis de Sales] A treatise of the love of God (Douai, 1630), STC 11323 PORRET, GEORGE, A spiritual directory uniting a devout soul unto her Lord (Douai, 1626), not in STC, ARCRII 651 PORTER, JEROME, The flowers of the lives of the most renowned saints of the three kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland. Written and collected out of the best authors and manuscripts of our nation, and distributed according to their feasts in the calendar (Douai, 1632), STC 20124 PRICE, THOMAS, trans., [Orazio Torsellini] The history of our B. Lady of Loreto (St Omer, 1608), STC 24141 R., P., The art to die well. Or a brief and easy method, how to direct ones life, to a secure & happy end (St Omer, 1626), STC 20585.5 RAINOLDS, WILLIAM, A refutation of sundry reprehensions, cavils, and false slights (Paris, 1583), STC 20632 RHODES, MATHEW, The dismal day, or a deplorable elegiac on the death of almost an hundred persons, slain by the fall of a house in the Back-Friars (London, 1623) STC 20961.5 [RODRIGUEZ, ALFONSO], The Christian man's guide. Wherein are contained two treatises. The one showing us the perfection of our ordin works. The other the -purfty of intention we ought to have in all our actions (St Omer, 1630), STC 21142 [RODRIGUEZ, ALFONSO], A short and sure way to heaven, and present happiness. Taught in a treatise of our conformity with the will of God (St Omer, 1630), STC 21144 337 ROGERS, RICHARD, Seven treatises, containing such direction as is gathered out of Holy Scriptures, leading and guiding to true happiness (London, 1603), STC 21215 ROGERS, THOMAS, trans., [St Augustine] A precious book of heavenly meditations, translated, -purified and adomed, by T. Rogers (London, 158 1), STC 944 ROGERS, THOMAS, trans., [St Augustine] S. Augustine's manual. Containing special and -piked meditations and godly prgyers (London, 158 1 STC 938 ROGERS, THOMAS, trans., A method unto mortification: called heretofore The contempt of the world.. .n ow perused for the benefit of this church, reformed and published by T. Rogers (London, 1605), STC 10543. ROOKWOOD, ROBERT, trans., [JacquesB rousse] The life of the reverend Fa. Angel of Joyeuse Cgpuchin preacher lives . ..T ogether with the of the reverend fathers, Father Bennet Englishman, and Father Archangel Scotchman, of the same order (Douai, 1623), STC 3902 Rules of the English sodality, of the immaculate conception of the most glorious virgin Mary (Mechlin, 1618), STC 16854.5 S., R., trans., [Virgilio Cepari] The life of B. Aloysius Gonzaga of the Sociely of Jesus, eldest son of Ferdinand prince of the S. R. Empire (St Omer, 1627), STC 4912 SANDYS, EDWIN, Europae speculum. Or a view or survey of the state of religion in the western parts of the world (London, c. 1622), STC 21718 SHACKLOCK, RICHARD, trans., [Stanislaus Hosius] A most excellent treatise of the beginning of heresies in our time (Antwerp, 1565), STC 13888 SHACKLOCK, RICHARD, trans., [Jeronimo Osorio da Fonesca] An epsitle of the reverend father in God Hieronimus Osorius ...t o the most excellent princess Elizabeth (Antwerp, 1565), STC 18888 Something written by occasion of that fateful accident in the Black-Friars (London, 1623), STC 3101 SOUTHWELL, ROBERT, An epistle of comfort, to the reverend priests, & to the honourable, worshipful, & other of the I!q y sort restrained in durance [sic] for the Catholic faith (England, secret press, 1587-1588), STC 22946 SOUTHWELL, ROBERT, S. Peter's complaint and Saint Mgjy Magdalene's funeral tears with sundry other selected, and devout poems (St Omer, 1616), ýTC 22955.7 338 SOUTHWELL, ROBERT, A short rule of good life. To direct the devout Christian in a regular and orderly course( England, secretp ress, 1596-1597), STC 22968.5 STAFOFRD, ANTHONY, The female glory: or, the life and death of our blessed lady, the holy virgin Mary (London, 1635) STC 23123 STANNEY, WILLIAM, A treatise of penance, with an explication of the rule, and manner of living, of the brethren and sisters, of the third order of S. Francis; commonly called, the order of penance (Douai, 1617), STC 23212 [SUSO, HENRY], Certain sweet prayers of the glorious name of Jesus, commonly called, Jesus Mattens, with the hours thereto belonging: written in Latin above two hundred years ago (England, secret press, 1575-1578), STC 23443.5 SWEETNAM, JOHN, The paradise of delights. Or the B. Virgin's garden of Loreto (St Omer, 1620), STC 23531 SWEETNAM, JOHN, S. Mga Magdalene's pilgrimage to -paradise. Wherein are lively imprinted in the footsteps of her excellent virtues, for sinners to follow, who desire to accompM her thither (St Omer, 1617), 23532 _STC TALBOT, THOMAS, trans., [Nicolao Berzetti] The practice of meditatin with profit the mysteries of our Lord, the blessed Virgin and the saints (Mechlin, 1613), STC 4125 VAUX, LAURNECE, A catechism, or a Christian doctrine, necessary children & ignorant people (Louvain, 1568), STC 24625.5 VAUX,, LAURENCE., A catechism, or a Christian doctrine, necessm for children & ignorant -people With an instruction newly added of the laudable ... ceremonies used in the Catholic church (Antwerp, 1574), STC 24626 VAUX, LAURENCE, A catechism, or a Christian doctrine, necessm for children & ignorant people ...W hereunto is adjoined a brief form of confession (England, secret press, 1599), STC 24627a VERSTEGAN, RICHARD, Odes. In imitation of the seven penitential -osaims, with sundKyo ther -poemsa nd ditties tending to devotion and piely (Antwerp, 1601), STC 21359 WADDING, LUKE, The history of the angelical virgin glorious S. Clare, dedicated to the Queen's most excellent majesty (Douai, 1635), STC 24924 WALPOLE!, EDWARD, trans., [Louis Richeome] The pilgrim of Loreto. p made to the glorious virgin Mgly mother of God. evout meditations (Paris, 1629), STC 21023 339 WALPOLE, MICHAEL, trans., [Pedro de Ribadeneira]T he life of B. Father Ignatius Loyola, author and founder of the Sociejy of Jesus( St Omer, 1616), STC 20967 WALPOLE, MICHAEL, trans., [Teresao f Avila] The life of the mother Teresao f Jesus,f oundresso f the monasterieso f the discalcedo r bare-footed Carmelite nuns and friars (Antwerp, 1611), STC 23948 WATTS, WILLIAM, trans., [St Augustine] Saint Augustine's confessions translated and with some marginal notes illustrated (London, 163 1), STC 912 WHITE, THOMAS, A catechism of Christian doctrine (Paris, 1637), STC 25403.5 WHITE, THOMAS, trans., [Francisco de Losa] The life of Gregojy Loves that great servant of God, native of Madrid (Paris, 1638), STC 16828 WHITFORD, RICHARD, [Thomas a Kempis] The following of Christ ...W hereunto is also added the golden epistle of Saint Bernard. and now latel the rules of a Christian life (Rouen, 1585), STC 23968 WILLOUGHBY, GILES, trans., [Peter of Alcdntara] A golden treatise of mental prgyer, with divers spiritual rules and directions (Brussels, 1632), STC 19794 WILSON, JOHN, The English mgl:l yrology containing a summm of the lives of the glorious and renowned saints of the three kingdoms, England, Scotland, and Ireland ...W hereunto is annexed in the end a catalogue of those, who have suffered death in England for defence of the Catholic cause, since King Hem the 8. his breach with the Sea [sic] Apostolic, unto this d (St Omer, 1608), STC 25771 WILSON, JOHN, The English mgKWology ...r eviewed, & much augmented in this second edition (St Omer, 1640), STC 25772 WISLON, JOHN, ed., The burning lamp. To enlighten such, as truly desire to attain to -perfection (St Omer, 1635), STC 12144.5 WILSON, JOHN, ed., The key of paradise opening the gate, unto eternal salvation (St Omer, 1623), STC 14945.5 WILSON, JOHN, ed., The practice of Christian works ...T ogether with a short rule, how to live well ...W hereunto are adjoined certain pious meditations upo the beads (St Omer, 1620), STC 11315 WILSON, JOHN, ed., The treasM of devotion. containing certain divers ercises both practical, and speculative St Omer, 1622), STC 25773 340 WILSONý JOHN, ed., A treatise of mental prqayerI.n which is briefly declared the manner how to exerciset he inward acts of virtues (St Omer, 1617), STC 18000 WILSON, JOHN, trans., [Martin Couvreur] The devotion of bondage. Or an easy practice of perfectly consecrating our selves to the service of the B. Virgi (St Omer, 1634), STC 6798.3 WILSON, JOHN, trans., [Frangois de la Croix] The little garden of our B. Lady. Or divers practical exercises in her honour (St Omer, 1626), STC 15117.3 WILSON, JOHN, trans., [?] A chain of twelve links. To wit XII Catholic conditions concerning certain graces & indulgences, of Christ's Catholic Church ...W hereunto are annexed, the indulgences granted unto the Society o the Rosqn together with those that are given to holy ... grains, crosses, & medals, of the English Pardon (England, secret press, 1617), STC 4932.5 WOODWARD, PHILIP, trans., [Gregory the Great] The dialog1jeso f S.. Gregory, sur-named the Great: Pope of Rome: and the first of that name. ..W ith sundly miracles, wrought at the shrines of mgAyrs (Douai, 1608), STC 12349 WORTHINGTON, LAURNECE, trans., [Frangois Coster] Meditations of the whole history of the passion of Christ (Douai, 1616), STC 5827 WORTHINGTON, THOMAS, A catalogUeo f mLrlyrs in England: for the profession of the Catholic faith, since the year of our Lord, 1535. ..u nto this year 1608 (Douai, 1608), STC 26000.8 WORTHINGTON, THOMAS, A relation of sixteen mqi:!y rs: glorified in England in twelve months. With a declaration. That English Catholics suffer for the Catholic religion. And that the seminM priests agree with the Jesuits (Douai, 1601), STC 26000.9 WRIGHT, THOMAS, The disposition or garnishment of the soul to receive worthily the blessed sacrament (Antwerp, 1596), STC 26038.8 WRIGHT, THOMAS, The disposition or garnishment of the soul to receive worthily the blessed sacrament (Antwerp, 1596), STC 18335 YAXLEY, JOHN, trans., [Francis de Sales]A n introduction to a devout life Composedi n French by the R. Father in God Francis Sales,B ishop of Geneva (Douai, 1613), STC 11316.5 YAXLEY, JOHN, trans., [Francis de Sales] An introduction to a devout life Ci by the R. Father in God Francis Sales, Bishop of Geneva (Douai, 1613), STC 11317 341 YAXLEY, JOHN, trans. [Francis de Sales] An introduction to a devout life Composedi n French [protestante dition] (London, 1616), STC 11319. 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